Biocon sells 5.4% stake in its research arm Syngene International

Drugmaker Biocon on Tuesday divested a 5.4 per cent stake in its research arm Syngene International for a little over ₹1,220 crore through an open market transaction.According to bulk deal data available with the BSE, Biocon, the promoter of Syngene International, sold a total of 21,789,164 shares, amounting to a 5.4 per cent stake, in the company.The shares were sold at an average price of ₹560.04 apiece, a discount of more than three per cent to Monday’s closing price of ₹578.75 on the BSE.At this price, the transaction size has been pegged at ₹1,220.28 crore, the data showed.The scrip of Syngene International has settled 2.38 per cent lower at ₹565 apiece on the BSE.ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was among the entities that lapped up the company’s shares.As of June year, of the promoters’ holding of 70.29 per cent, Biocon held a 69.99 per cent stake in Syngene, the shareholding pattern with the exchange showed.In separate block deals, Raja Ganesan Chandramogan, promoter of Hatsun Agro Products, offloaded 27.2 lakh shares of the company for nearly ₹269 crore.The shares were picked up by Sundaram Mutual Fund and SBI Mutual Fund.