Andhra Pradesh High Court vacates status quo order on Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy merger

The Andhra Pradesh High Court today vacated the status quo order it had issued earlier on the merger process between Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy.

A petition in this regard was filed by two investors requesting the High Court to restrain the BSE and the NSE from giving any clearance to the scheme of amalgamation or merger between Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy. The petitioners alleged that there was heavy trading of Ranbaxy stock before the merger with Sun Pharma was announced on April 6.

They requested the court to direct market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to investigate the insider trading of Ranbaxy shares and take appropriate action against Sun Pharma and Silver Street Developers.

The court had earlier issued interim orders to maintain status quo with regard to the merger.

Justice G Chandraiah today vacated the status quo.

The SEBI had yesterday informed the court that an investigation is currently going on into the allegations of insider trading. The Bourses are yet to forward their opinion on the merger or amalgamation issue to the market regulator.

The Mumbai-based Sun Pharma had on April 6 announced that it would fully acquire Ranbaxy in an all-stock transaction with a total equity value of USD 3.2 billion, along with debt of USD 800 million, taking the overall deal value to USD 4 billion.