On May 09 2018, CCI approved acquisition of 10% of the equity share capital of Mankind Pharma Limited (‘Mankind’) by Beige Limited (‘Beige’) and Link Investment Trust (‘Link’) pursuant to a share purchase agreement executed between the parties followed by an amended and re-stated shareholder’s agreement. As part of the proposed transaction, Mankind would also acquire control over several enterprises which supply pharmaceutical products to Mankind for captive consumption.Beige, an investment company, is registered in Mauritius and owned by Maize Investments Limited and indirectly controlled by ChrysCapital VII, LLC (‘ChrysCapital’). Link, a private trust registered in India, is engaged in making investments. Mankind is a public limited company incorporated in India and is engaged in the business of manufacturing and trading of pharmaceutical and healthcare products.CCI observed that while there were no horizontal overlaps between the acquirers and Mankind, Beige, Link and ChrysCapital did have certain shareholdings in enterprises that are engaged in pharmaceutical and healthcare business, such as Curatio Healthcare Private Limited (‘Curatio’), Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited, Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited, Ipca Laboratories Limited and GVK Biosciences Limited (‘GVK’). Based on the extent of shareholding and nature of rights held, CCI considered only Curatio and GVK for the purpose of its competitive assessment. CCI noted that the relevant market for pharmaceutical products was to be considered at the molecular (i.e. active pharmaceutical ingredient) level and observed that the activities of Mankind and Curatio overlapped in seven formulations viz., (i) Biotin and Comb; (ii) Ketoconazole; (iii) Emollients – Protectives; (iv) Aminexil + Minoxidil; (v) Anti acne soaps; (vi) Other dermatological preparations; and (vii) Lidocaine + Prilocaine.With respect to the first six markets, CCI observed that the combined market shares of the parties ranged from 0-5% - 20-25%. Further, the parties were subject to competitive constraints by other strong market players as well. With respect to the last relevant market i.e., ‘Lidocaine + Prilocaine’, CCI noted that despite having a combined market share of 60-65%, the products of Mankind and Curatio in this market were different from the perspective of the consumer and thus were not close competitors. Accordingly CCI opined that the proposed transaction was unlikely to cause any AAEC in India, and approved the same.

*Combination Registration No. C-2018/04/565.