HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.
Drug discovery and development company Mission Therapeutics recently said that it has raised $15mn in equity investment. The funding round was led by company’s existing investor Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc.
Along with the investment, Mission and Pfizer Inc. have also expanded their relationship by entering into an evaluation and option agreement for DUB target validation.
Pfizer Ventures has been an investor in Mission Therapeutics since 2013. It made a further equity investment into the company, contributing a super pro rata amount. All other existing investors within Mission joined the round on a pro rata basis. No further financial details have been disclosed.
The company said that the new capital will support development of Mission’s world-leading DUB platform, as well as growth of its pipeline of DUB inhibitor programmes.
DUBs have attracted significant interest as potential drug targets. Playing an integral role in protein homeostasis, this large family of enzymes is involved in diverse cellular processes and many disease pathologies.
Under the terms of the evaluation and option agreement, Pfizer will access specific DUB inhibitors from Mission’s platform and test these compounds in phenotypic screens to validate promising drug targets. Pfizer will then have the option to negotiate target exclusivity for each of the DUBs of interest.
The agreement does not include any of Mission’s own lead DUB programs, such as USP30.
Commenting on the agreement, Dr. Denis Patrick, Managing Partner of Pfizer Ventures and Member of Mission’s Board of Directors, said, “Since our initial investment in Mission seven years ago, the company has grown tremendously and the depth of its scientific expertise and capability has grown alongside it. We are proud to expand our relationship with the company and our scientists are looking forward to a successful collaboration in this important area of research.”
Dr. Anker Lundemose, CEO of Mission Therapeutics added, “We are pleased to expand our relationship with Pfizer, one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies. We have benefitted from the valuable contributions of Dr. Denis Patrick as a member of our Board of Directors and we look forward to working with the wider Pfizer team.”
Argus, a London-based leading global commodity information service provider, announced that it has purchased Agritel, the expert provider of information, consulting and forecasting on agricultural and agro-industrial markets.
Agritel was founded nearly 20 years ago by Michel Portier and offers data and analysis tools to help farmers and agro-industrial companies manage risk in agricultural commodity markets.
“We are delighted that Agritel decided to join us,” Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said. “We have long been an admirer of the way it has developed essential services for the agricultural sector and as we grow our portfolio of services to complement our existing offerings in adjacent sectors of fertilizer and biofuels, we know that their team will be a huge asset in delivering value for clients.”
“Argus’ knowledge and experience in the field of energy and commodities price reporting offer synergies and opportunities for us to implement new solutions in agricultural markets,” Agritel directeur général Michel Portier said. “In addition to our complementary areas of business and geographies, we share common values, which was key for us in making the decision to join Argus. A customer-oriented strategy and a commitment to editorial independence are vital, as is the importance of a rigorous and regulatorily compliant methodology.”
The Agritel team and management will remain in place. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Agritel is an independent consulting firm, expert in the agribusiness markets: the agricultural, agro-food and agro-industrial sectors. Agritel provides the tools, knowledge and know-how that have been used for several decades in the world of finance in terms of risk management and hedging to support agribusinesses. It is present in France and Ukraine.
Argus is an independent media organisation with more than 1000 staff. It is headquartered in London and has offices in the world’s principal commodity trading and production centres. Argus produces price assessments and analysis of international energy and other commodity markets, and offers bespoke consulting services and industry-leading conferences.
Companies in 140 countries around the world use Argus data to index physical trade and as benchmarks in financial derivative markets as well as for analysis and planning purposes. Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company. It is owned by employee shareholders and global growth equity firm General Atlantic.
Itiviti, a leading technology and service provider to financial institutions worldwide, announced that Elly Hardwick had been appointed to its board of directors to further growth and technology-driven innovation plans for the company.
Elly has 25 years’ experience within Fintech, serving as Head of Innovation at Deutsche Bank, and, most recently, Chief Digital Officer of UBS. Elly commenced her career at the UK Department of Trade and Industry, focusing on Communications and Information Industries policy and subsequently held roles with Booz. Allen & Hamilton’s Tech, Media & Telco practice, and in the Institutional Equity Division of Morgan Stanley.
Prior to this role, Elly held positions as Global Head of Professional Publishing and later Global Head of Strategy, Investment, and Advisory at Thomson Reuters (now Refinitiv), and served as the founding CEO of Fintech startup Credit Benchmark. Elly continues to serve as a Non-Executive Director with Axis Capital and Alpha Bank.
“I am delighted to have Elly join the board of directors at Itiviti,” said Rob Mackay, CEO, Itiviti. “Elly’s extensive experience and knowledge within financial services technology innovation will be invaluable in helping us achieve both our aggressive growth plans and ambitions in continuing to be the vendor partner of choice for capital market firms’.
“Elly’s skills and experience in digitalization and innovation are a perfect fit for us at Itiviti,” said Per E. Larsson, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “Delivering innovative thinking and customer benefits in both product and interface is high on our priority list. I am looking very much forward to working with Elly, who will add tremendous value to the continuous growth of Itiviti.”
“The financial services industry is seeing a significant increase both in opportunities for digitization and in demand for digitized services.” Said Elly Hardwick. “I’m delighted to be joining a company so perfectly positioned to support clients with opportunities in this space.”
Itiviti enables financial institutions worldwide to evolve their trading and capture tomorrow. With innovative technology, deep expertise, and a dedication to service, it helps customers seize market opportunities and guide them through regulatory change. With a presence in all major financial centers and serving around 2,000 customers in over 50 countries, Itiviti delivers on a global scale.
Not-for-profit NIIT University recently announced that it has appointed Prabhu Aggarwal, as the next President. He succeeds VS Rao, whose tenure ended on June 30, 2020.
The university said in a statement that “Aggarwal comes with extensive global expertise in the fields of engineering, process management, education and leadership development spanning over three decades, a substantial part of which was at the Mason School of Business, College of William & Mary, Virginia, USA where he led the Center for Professional Development Programs for working professionals.”
A graduate from IIT Kanpur with a major in Mechanical Engineering, Aggarwal went on to do his MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA in Operations Management.
Post his return to India in 2012, he has been the founding Vice Chancellor of OP Jindal University (Raigarh) and thereafter Academic Advisor to the National Rail and Transportation Institute, among other engagements.
On the new appointment K Kasturirangan, Chairperson NIIT University said, “Dr Prabhu Aggarwal brings three decades of academic experience to the University. His unique blend of experience will help advance our mission of building innovation in higher education.”
Mr Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman NIIT and Founder NIIT University said, “We welcome Dr Prabhu Aggarwal to NU. We are certain that his diverse and comprehensive experience both in the field of engineering and management development, will further strengthen the Four Core Principles of NU.”
Speaking on the appointment, Dr Prabhu Aggarwal, President, NIIT University said, “It is both an honour and a privilege to lead NIIT University, which is focused towards building a model of higher education that fosters critical thinking, innovation and a research mindset. I look forward to the opportunity to guide the future of NIIT University; particularly given the enormous challenges posed by current uncertainties and therefore new prospects that higher education is faced with in the present times.”
Aggarwal’s research has been published in leading academic and practitioner journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, IIE Transactions, Journal of International Technology and Information Management, and International Journal of Production Economics.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, announced that it has successfully deployed TCS DynaPORT, a state-of-the-art terminal operating system at Tilbury2 Ro-Ro, Forth Ports’ latest unaccompanied freight ferry terminal opened recently in London.
TCS said that it has implemented this solution on schedule, 100% virtually during the COVID-19 lockdowns, leveraging the Secure Borderless Workspaces (SBWS) model.
Tilbury2 Ro-Ro terminal is a 500,000-freight unit ferry terminal at the port of Tilbury on the River Thames, London. The bespoke terminal operates on unaccompanied freight mode, importing and exporting freight containing vital supplies for the UK, including food, drink and medicines to and from continental Europe.
“To streamline its operations, establish world-class benchmarks, and support its future growth, Forth Ports selected TCS’ DynaPORT as its terminal operating system. The platform is already implemented within Forth Ports Lo-Lo container terminals operating at the Port of Tilbury and the Port of Grangemouth in Scotland, allowing all three freight terminals to operate on the same IT platform,” TCS said in its press statement.
TCS DynaPORT is a one-stop digital terminal operating solution that streamlines order-to-invoice processes and supports multi-modal (vessel, rail, truck and barge) and multi-purpose (container, breakbulk, liquid bulk, dry bulk and ro-ro) requirements. It currently powers over 80 terminals across the globe.
The implementation, which commenced in February, was interrupted by the lockdowns announced soon after. The TCS team adopted SBWS, a transformative operating model that allows organizations to fully and seamlessly transition to virtual workspaces. Subsequently, all phases of the implementation – from design, development and testing to deployment, configuration and training – were successfully executed virtually in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new terminal and the new automated system, support the drive towards having vessels spend less time in the port, reducing costs and turnaround times and facilitating faster transport of vital goods. Additionally, containers and trailers can be on the motorway network and on their way, in under an hour.
“In the Business 4.0 world, port operators, who are vital nodes in global supply chains, are embracing new technologies to reimagine their operations, enabling greater transparency, traceability and velocity,” said Sridharan Narayanan, Global Head – Ports & Cargo, Travel, Transportation and Hospitality business, TCS. “We are delighted to deepen our long-standing partnership with Forth Ports and partner them in this strategic growth and transformation initiative. We have leveraged our deep contextual knowledge to design a solution that best addresses Forth Ports’ business needs and deployed it on schedule with both our teams working from home using SBWS. With this success, we have set a new global benchmark in enterprise platform deployment for terminal operators.”
Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer, Forth Ports, said: “On top of the usual challenges involved with a project of this scale, the COVID-19 pandemic put pressure on us all to find flexible ways to work to keep the port opening on schedule. The successful implementation of this brand-new system was only made possible by TCS’ ability to deliver at short notice and with agility. The team had an intimate understanding of the detail of our requirements and were able to produce efficient and user-friendly solutions that are fit for purpose; in this regard the TCS team is in a class of its own. The expertise and knowledge of the TCS team was combined with that our own MIS staff and that of third-party suppliers to collaboratively deliver the solution on time. The system has more than lived up to expectations; with vehicle turnaround at world-class levels and highly rated vessel performance in action within a week. Even when sudden changes or additions needed to be made, the configurability and adaptability of the system allowed us to quickly evolve the technology to support these changes. We have a long-standing partnership with TCS and, as always, this brilliant result was achieved through a lot of hard work and dedication from their team. TCS have, in conjunction with Forth Ports, progressed their product to a new level of capability, thereby expanding their opportunities in the marketplace and in so doing provided Forth Ports with an excellent solution for one of our largest single investments.”
Japanese IT equipment and services company, Fujitsu Ltd recently said that it would halve its office space in three years as it rewrites the way employees work under a “new normal” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The company said its roughly 80,000 group employees in Japan would work flexible hours, and work-from-home would be standard wherever possible.
“We will overhaul our current work, allowance and welfare framework that is based on the assumption that employees commute to designated offices every day,” Hiroki Hiramatsu, Head of Human Resources told a news briefing.
Fujitsu has sold or ditched money-losing hardware businesses such as laptops and smartphones in recent years to focus on software services, a business relatively easy to conduct remotely.
While reducing office space, the company plans to launch satellite offices in areas where many employees reside and sign up with more shared workspace providers, Hiramatsu said.
The recent development at the Japanese multinational company comes at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has altered the way people work and businesses are conducted. Many organizations around the world are contemplating reducing their office spaces and invest more in technology that helps them enable remote working efficiently.
Indian IT services firm TCS has recently said that it plans to move its 75% of workforce for remote working permanently and only 25% of its staff would be required to come to office. Along with TCS, Twitter and Square, both companies managed by Jack Dorsey have given its employees permanent work from home solutions except when required to come.
However, this ‘new normal’ has certainly added to the woes of the real estate industry. With companies ditching on work spaces, investments in the real estate sector have an uncertain future ahead.
Zydus, a leading discovery based global pharmaceutical company announced that it has received approval from the regulatory authority of Mexico, COFEPRIS, for its one of its lead research candidate Desidustat to be tested in the management of COVID-19.
Clinical and regulatory development of Desidustat in COVID-19 is being executed in Mexico by Avant Santé Research Center S.A. de C.V., a leading Contract Research Organization (CRO) headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, Zydus said in its press statement.
The company will be conducting a Phase 2b, Multicenter, Open-label, Randomized, Comparator- Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Desidustat Tablet for the Management of COVID-19 patients.
As a part of the study 100 mg tablets of Desidustat will be administered for a period of 14 days along with recommended standard care during the trial.
Patients infected with COVID-19 have been reported to display signs of ‘Hypoxia’ leading to organ failure and death despite the use of antivirals, anti-inflammatory drugs or ventilators. The attack with the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) will cause less and less haemoglobin that can carry oxygen and carbon dioxide. The lung cells have been reported to develop extremely intense poisoning and inflammation due to the inability to exchange carbon dioxide and oxygen frequently, which eventually results in ground-glass-like lung images. Desidustat (a hypoxia inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor, currently undergoing Phase 3 trials) mimics the physiologic effect of altitude on oxygen availability. At higher altitudes, the body responds to lower oxygen availability with stabilization of hypoxiainducible factor, and this can lead to increased red blood cell production and improved oxygen delivery to tissues.
Speaking on the development, Pankaj R. Patel, Chairman, Zydus Cadila said, “At Zydus, we have been stepping up our efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic through therapeutic drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. With Desidustat we will study a novel approach for management of Covid-19.”
Zydus had initiated two Phase III trials of Desidustat. The DREAM-ND Phase III trial is being conducted in 588 CKD patients not-on- -dialysis. The DREAM-D Phase III trial is being conducted in 392 CKD patients on Dialysis’. Desidustat had previously met its primary endpoints in the Phase II clinical studies and showed good safety profile. The Phase I trials were earlier completed in Australia.
Secure Cloud-Managed Network Services provider Infoblox Inc recently announced that it has appointed George Chang as Vice President of Sales for its Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region.
Chang’s appointment follows the appointment of Matthew Hanmer as Country Manager and Regional Director for Australia and New Zealand. Chang will be based in Singapore, said the company.
In his new role, Chang will lead go-to-market strategies that bolster Infoblox’s continued growth in APJ.
In an official statement, the company said, “Chang’s hiring demonstrates Infoblox’s commitment to expanding its regional footprint. He brings over 30 years of experience in international executive management across the technology and cybersecurity industries.”
Chang moves to Infoblox after serving as an advisor to the board and senior partner at Axcelerate Consulting Group and as Vice President of Sales at Forcepoint in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Financial services, government, telecommunications, and education have fueled our growth in APJ as they embraced digital transformation, which continues to drive demand for our cloud-managed networking and security solutions,” said Cherif Sleiman, Senior Vice President of International Business at Infoblox. “George brings decades of experience helping customers in these sectors navigate the challenges of an increasingly complex technology landscape.”
“Enterprise infrastructure is going hybrid and multi-cloud with more remote devices connecting to the corporate network than ever before,” said Chang. “Businesses that seek to take advantage of the benefits of digital transformation will need solutions that work for them now and in the future. I am excited to be joining Infoblox, the leader in next-level networking, to help customers build borderless organizations with enhanced security, reliability, and automation.”
Workers at India’s biggest two-wheeler exporter Bajaj Auto, are reportedly demanding the temporary closure of one of its plants after 250 employees tested positive for coronavirus. The recent demand by the union comes at a time when the company is struggling to ramp up operations.
India went into complete lockdown in late March to curb the spread of the virus but started easing restrictions despite the number of cases surging, putting some companies in a difficult position as they try to revive production.
The Bajaj Auto factory affected is located in western Maharashtra, the state with the highest number of cases of COVID-19. The company said in a letter to employees this week that those who do not show up for work will not be paid.
“People are scared to come to work. Some are still coming but some are taking leave,” said Thengade Bajirao, president of the Bajaj Auto Workers’ Union.
The company said on June 26 that 140 of the roughly 8,000 staff at the factory had caught the virus and two had died. It said work there would not be stopped, however, as the company wanted to learn to “live with the virus”.
“We requested the company to temporarily close the plant for 10-15 days to break the cycle but they said there is no point as people will continue to gather for social events outside of work,” the Bajaj union’s Bajirao said.
For every employee testing positive, four who work close to them have to be quarantined, affecting productivity, he said.
With an annual production capacity of over 3.3 million motorbikes and other vehicles, the Waluj plant accounts for more than 50% of Bajaj’s manufacturing volume in India.
“If an employee remains absent at office or plant due to any reason despite being asked by the company … then his/her salary would be deducted 100% during the period,” Bajaj said in the letter to employees.
Earlier in May, Chinese smartphone maker OPPO suspended operations briefly at a plant near New Delhi after some workers tested positive. The recent surge in cases at the manufacturing facilities of various companies only shows the flaw in the practices followed by the organizations despite the government-mandated guidelines.
Workers and union leaders say Bajaj has taken steps to ensure social distancing on the factory floor and in its cafeteria, besides arranging separated seating on its buses and providing masks and sanitizers for staff. But they say this is not enough.
“On the assembly line, multiple people touch the same engine. We were wearing gloves but still caught the virus,” said one worker who was in the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.
France’s flag carrier Air France recently confirmed plans to cut about 7,500 jobs including 1,000 at its sister airline HOP!, amid protests from staff over its response to the collapse in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The French airline, part of Franco-Dutch group Air France-KLM, said it had lost 15mn euros a day during the worst part of the crisis, which also saw its revenues plunge by 95%. It did not see traffic returning to 2019 levels before 2024.
As a result, it plans to cut 6,560 or 16% of jobs at the main airline by the end of 2022, more than 3,500 of which will come through natural departures, it said after union talks.
Another 1,020 jobs will go over the next three years at “HOP!”, representing 42% of staff at the regional carrier based in the coastal city of Nantes, which has also been hit by job cuts at planemaker Airbus.
The French government – which granted Air France 7 billion euros ($7.9 billion) in aid, including state-backed loans, to help it to survive – has urged the airline to avoid compulsory layoffs, though it has conceded Air France is “on the edge.”
“A successful labour reorganisation is one where there are no forced departures,” junior economy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Sud Radio.
In its statement, Air France said it would give priority to voluntary departures, early retirement and staff mobility. However, it did not rule out compulsory redundancies.
The reconstruction plan will be presented at the end of July, together with a plan for the wider Air France-KLM Group.
Some 100 union members and employees, from cleaning staff to check-in assistants, demonstrated earlier outside the airline’s base at Charles de Gaulle airport against plans to cut staff after receiving state aid to absorb the pandemic fallout.
In Nantes, where HOP! is based, employees also erected banners in protest.
The shake-up was expected after sources familiar with the matter said that at least half of the cuts were likely to entail voluntary departures and retirement plans.
The government, which is being reshuffled under a new prime minister nominated on Friday, has also expressed concerns about Airbus’s (AIR.PA) plans to cut some 15,000 jobs across Europe – with a third of those in France.
A wave of restructuring triggered by the virus outbreak is hitting airlines and industrial firms across Europe.
Under CEO Ben Smith, who joined from Air Canada in 2018, Air France-KLM has sought to cut costs, improve French labour relations and overcome governance squabbles between France and the Netherlands, each owners of close to 14% of the group.
Britain’s biggest mall owner Intu Properties’ Chief Executive Officer Matthew Roberts has reportedly stepped down from the role a week after the company went into administration, said a Reuters report citing sources.
Roberts, who took the helm in 2019 after serving as Intu’s Finance Chief for about nine years, informed staff that he was leaving the company, the report said.
Intu, which owns 17 major shopping centres in Britain, including Manchester’s Trafford Centre, last week called in KPMG as administrators after it failed to secure a deal with its creditors.
Sky News first reported here Roberts’ departure.
Intu’s shopping centers, home to hundreds of well-known retailers, will remain open during Intu’s insolvency proceedings as they are individually owned by special purpose vehicles and under the control of their directors, KPMG said last week.
Frankfurt-based Commerzbank’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer have recently stepped down from their offices, bowing to demands from top shareholder Cerberus that the German lender changes its strategy to stop a downward spiral in its financial performance.
The resignations of Chief Executive Martin Zielke and supervisory board Chairman Stefan Schmittmann cap weeks of drama after the U.S. private equity firm last month attacked Commerzbank’s management for failing to do enough to stop the decline.
The 150-year-old lender has struggled this year, reporting a first-quarter loss, halting its 2019 dividend plans, backtracking on the sale of its Polish unit mBank, and losing a soccer team sponsorship deal to its rival Deutsche Bank, with whom it failed to merge last year.
Bailed out by the state during the last financial crisis, Commerzbank is now considering cutting thousands more jobs and closing hundreds of branches to turn itself around.
Months before Cerberus took its complaints public, the German state, frustrated with the bank’s poor performance, replaced both of its representatives on the supervisory board.
Commerzbank said that a committee of the supervisory board discussed on Friday Zielke’s offer to resign and would recommend the board accept it at a July 8 meeting.
“I would like to open the way for a fresh start,” Zielke said. “The bank needs a profound transformation and a new CEO, who gets the necessary time from the markets to implement a strategy.”
Zielke was meant to present a strategy update to the board this week but the chief executive, in the top spot for four years, but was blocked from doing so by labour representatives.
Cerberus, which bought a 5% stake in Commerzbank in 2017, began an activist campaign to force the lender to change strategy and hand the U.S. investor two seats on its supervisory board early last month.
The U.S. investor said on Friday that it was not surprised by the resignations, though it was surprised by the timing, a person close to the investor told Reuters, adding that it would work with the government and bank staff to fill the management vacuum.
The state, which owns almost 16% of Commerzbank, is its largest shareholder. The Finance Ministry said it was fully committed to its engagement with the bank.
“Commerzbank plays a central role in the financing of small and medium businesses and exports,” the ministry said in a statement.
Two top 10 investors said on Friday that Roland Boekhout, who recently joined Commerzbank from ING Group, would be a credible replacement for Zielke, echoing sentiments from other bankers in recent months. Neither Commerzbank nor Boekhout responded to requests for comment.
Last year, Commerzbank wanted to merge with its larger rival Deutsche Bank but talks broke down.
Blu Smart, India’s first all electric shared smart mobility platform for efficient, affordable, intelligent, sustainable ride-sharing, car-sharing and scooter-sharing, announced that it has raised Rs 37 crore in a pre-Series A funding round, according to media reports.
The Gurugram-based startup raised the capital from Mumbai Angels Network, Inflection Point Ventures and LetsVenture, Entrackr reported, citing people aware of the development. Some existing investors have also taken part in this pre-Series A exercise, as per the report.
The Company will utilise the fresh capital for operations, car-lease deposits, and marketing purposes. The cash will also help the company streamline itself following a drop in demand owing to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Founded by Punit K Goyal, Puneet Singh Jaggi and Anmol Singh Jaggi, Blu Smart is building a comprehensive and holistic smart electric on-demand mobility platform covering the entire value chain of smart mobility, smart charging and smart parking.
Earlier, the Company had raised $3 million angel funding from several investors including Ka Enterprises LLP, the family office of actor Deepika Padukone.
Other participants in that round included JITO Angel Network, Bajaj Capital managing director Sanjiv Bajaj and Rajat Gupta, the former managing director of management consultancy firm McKinsey.
Blu Smart says it is focusing on building an all-electric ecosystem. During its angel funding round, the startup said it planned to bring on board 15,000 electric cars and 2,500 chargers on its ride-sharing platform by 2021.
KKR, a global investment firm, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a controlling stake in J.B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, one of the leading Indian pharmaceutical companies specializing in branded formulations.
As part of the agreement, KKR will acquire its stake from the founding Mody family at a purchase price of Rs 745 per share and make an open offer for an additional 26% of the Company. Details of the open offer will be disclosed at the appropriate time.
J.B. Chemicals is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in India, supplying affordable, high-quality products in the cardiac, gastrointestinal and anti-infective therapeutic areas across the branded formulations market. The Company’s portfolio includes four flagship brands in India, Cilacar, Metrogyl, Nicardia and Rantac. The Company currently exports its branded formulations to more than 40 countries around the world.
Commenting on the acquisition, J.B. Mody, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of J.B. Chemicals, said, “For more than four decades, J.B. Chemicals’ mission has been to deliver affordable, high-quality pharmaceutical products that improve the lives of individuals living in India and around the world. We are thrilled that KKR – with its deep knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and experience in investing in the sector, as well as its extensive investments in India – will take our mission forward and build on the foundation of core values that our family has instilled in this company. This will also create growth opportunities for our people to progress.”
Sanjay Nayar, Partner and CEO of KKR India, said, “We are pleased that the promoters of J.B. Chemicals have selected us to take over their rich legacy and to help the company continue its expansion, which is clearly driven by its diversified product portfolio and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities. We believe J.B. Chemicals has an opportunity to accelerate its growth and leverage its strengths to enter into new therapeutic areas. We look forward to working with the management team to build on the company’s strong foundation, and believe this investment underscores KKR’s ongoing commitment to India’s long-term economic prospects and the potential of its companies.”
KKR has a long track record of supporting companies in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors globally. In India, KKR’s pharmaceutical and healthcare investments include Max Healthcare and Radiant Life Care, which collectively comprise the largest hospital network in North India. KKR has also previously invested in Gland Pharma, an Indian pure-play generic injectable pharmaceutical products company that was the first company in India to get US Food and Drug Administration approval for pharmaceutical liquid injectable products.
KKR will fund this investment from Asian Fund III. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.
Avendus Capital served as financial advisor to the Promoters of J.B. Chemicals, and Platinum Partners (Mumbai) acted as legal counsel. Moelis & Company served as financial advisor, EY as accounting and tax diligence advisor, and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to KKR. ICICI Securities Limited will be acting as the manager to the public tender offer.
Inspektlabs, a US and New Delhi-based Inspection AI technology startup that automates inspections of physical items with photos and videos, announced that it has raised $600,000 in a pre-Series A round led by Better Capital, Titan Capital — the investment office of Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, and a cluster of angel investors.
The startup will utilise the fund infusion for product development, and to increase its breadth of offerings for insurance and automotive players across the globe.
Founded in 2019 by Devesh Trivedi and Sanchit, Inspektlabs allows firms to perform damage assessment, claim estimation, asset valuation, and fraud detection of physical assets using photos or videos. Customers can capture a 360 degrees video of any asset (such as a car) using a smartphone, and within seconds, Inspektlabs’ API reverts with an inspection report.
Commenting on the funding, Devesh Trivedi, Co-founder of Inspektlabs, said, “Inspektlabs products have been designed and built from the ground-up to plug into this evolving paradigm of enterprise solutions. Our products currently reduce the cost of inspection by 98 percent, and reduce the time required for inspections by 95 percent. We are constantly innovating to deliver new value propositions by improving deliverability, and assuring reliability in our product. We will soon diversify to other assets such as cellphones, bikes.”
Vaibhav Domkundwar, Lead Investor, said, “At a time where the world is prodding for a contactless environment, there is an increased demand and market for automation technologies. Almost every industry today is looking to ensure safety, adeptness, and productivity. Inspektlabs technology not only increases efficiency but is quite easy to deploy, as well. This particular technology trend, I believe, will transform our society.”
Inspektlabs, which is also a part of the 2020 London Barclays Accelerator, builds computer vision products for physical asset inspections using photos and videos. It is currently automating car inspections for global motor insurance and automotive players. It has so far inspected 100,000 cars in Japan, the UK, and India.
The startup has data of five million damaged assets in photos and videos, and it has filed international patents for select damage categories. It has already signed contracts with two major players, and has four other pilots, running with large automotive and insurance companies globally.
