Mumbai, September 26, 2022 – PAG, a leading global investment firm, announced today that its private equity strategy, along with consortium partners CX Partners and Samara Capital, has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Optimus Group, a Hyderabad, India-based pharmaceutical firm, through the API platform, Sekhmet Pharmaventures.

Founded in 2004, Optimus is a vertically integrated manufacturer of pharmaceutical products including advanced intermediates, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished drugs. It currently exports more than 100 products to 40 countries.

Nikhil Srivastava, Partner and Managing Director, Head of India Private Equity for PAG, commented: “We are excited to partner with Srini and the team at Optimus as it embarks on a new phase of growth. We look forward to supporting Optimus to continue to invest in its R&D, manufacturing capabilities and intellectual property management, and serve the health needs of people in India and across the globe.”

Dr. D. Srinivas Reddy, the founder of Optimus, said: “Sekhmet’s investment significantly boosts our product development capabilities, and further enables us to achieve our ambition of becoming a leading global API producer. We look forward to working with PAG consortium to build our portfolio to deliver high quality, affordable health products, and offer our customers industry-leading products across a wide spectrum of medical needs.”

The deal follows the acquisition of Anjan Drugs in 2020 by the consortium, which aims to develop a best-in-class center for the development and production of bulk drug ingredients.

PAG views India as a particularly attractive market. With this transaction, PAG has invested more than USD700 million in private equity in India over the last two years across multiple sectors.

About Optimus Drugs

Optimus was established in 2004 by a team of scientists who had a passion for chemistry and for ensuring better healthcare for everyone. It is one of the fastest-growing manufacturers of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and finished dosages based out of Hyderabad, India. Optimus’ mission is to provide and ensure better healthcare across the globe through its centralised research & development centre, innovative methods, cost-effective approach, high-end technology and manufacturing excellence. For more information, please visit www.optimuspharma.com.

About PAG

PAG is a leading global investment firm focused on APAC with three core strategies: Credit & Markets, Private Equity, and Real Assets. PAG manages capital on behalf of nearly 300 institutional fund investors, including some of the most sophisticated global asset allocators. As of 30 June 2022, PAG had approximately 300 investment professionals in 12 key offices, and more than USD50 billion in assets under management. For more information, please visit www.pag.com.

About CX Partners

CX Partners is a leading Indian homegrown private equity fund, with its core strategy to acquire controlling or significant minority stakes in mid-sized companies, with market leading positions. The current portfolio of CX investment are in sectors including IT, Pharma, Financial Services, and consumer focused segments. The leadership team is amongst the most experienced in India, which has 60+ years of combined PE investing heritage. It has over the years a reputation of picking winners and being first movers in identifying durable and actionable investment themes across economic cycles. For more information, visit cxpartners.in.

About Samara Capital

Samara Capital is one of India’s leading mid-market private equity firms with strong operating capabilities. Samara invests in Emerging Indian Companies (EICs), businesses that have the potential for rapid growth and transformation. Samara values the importance of building trust in all their business relationships with emphasis on medium to long term value creation, nimbleness, agility while running the businesses that they invest in. Key sectors of interest are consumer / retail; healthcare/pharma; financials & business services/technology. Further information is available at samaracapital.com.

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