Sun barred from buying more in Taro

In a twist to the Sun Pharma-Taro acquisition battle, the Israeli Supreme Court has barred the Mumbai-based Sun from acquiring further stake in Taro.

Taro said in a statement that the Supreme Court has ruled that
Sun may not exercise a warrant to purchase additional Taro shares while a previously ordered temporary injunction remains in effect.

Sun holds a 36% stake in the Israeli pharmaceutical company and has been aiming to take control since their $454 million acquisition deal of 2007 was unilaterally stopped by Taro in May 2008.

Sun Pharma spokesperson said there was no comment to be offered on this matter. Sun had launched an open offer for acquiring additional shares of Taro in 2008. The open offer was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court, which prohibited the Indian company from closing the offer until the court gives a ruling in other cases related to takeover.

In December last year Taro said that Sun attempted to exercise a warrant to purchase approximately 3.7 million additional Taro shares at a price of $6 per share.

Taro argued that the purchase of shares through warrant was violation of the court order, which was to maintain status quo. Sun asked the Supreme Court to give an order that temporary injunction does not prohibit the exercise of the warrant, which was not accepted by the court.

The court ruled that the purpose of the temporary injunction was to maintain the status quo until a judgment on the appeal is rendered.