Ranbaxy withdraws bid for Merck's generic business

Mumbai: Ranbaxy Laboratories. has opted out its bid for the generic drug unit of German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA, as it found it to be overvalued, reports quoting sources close to the deal said.

Ranbaxy had entered the second phase of bidding for the generic drug-manufacturing arm of Merck KGaA, but withdrew from the race because of high valuations of the takeover target.
Ranbaxy and Merck, however, declined to comment.

Valuation of the Merck unit has varied from around $4-5 billion to $6-7 billion as the bidding progressed.

Ranbaxy had not disclosed its bid figure. However, chief executive Malvinder Singh had earlier said the company would not get into a bidding war even though it deemed Merck's generic arm as a quality asset.

Ranbaxy has been aggressively acquiring companies overseas, especially in Europe, to become a global player in generic drugs. Last year, the company bought three European firms, including Terapia of Romania for $324 million.