MUMBAI, India, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced its subsidiary, Alkaloida Chemical Company Exclusive Group Ltd. (Alkaloida), has extended the Expiration Date of the Tender Offer for the purchase of all outstanding Ordinary Shares of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Taro). The Offer will now expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, April 3, 2009, unless further extended or earlier terminated. The Tender Offer was extended to comply with a continuing order issued by the Supreme Court of Israel temporarily prohibiting the closing of the Offer until the Supreme Court issues a decision on the appeal of the litigation commenced against Alkaloida and its affiliates by Taro and certain of its directors regarding the applicability of the special tender offer rules under the Israeli Companies Law to the Offer. The Tel-Aviv District Court had previously ruled in favor of Sun that a special tender offer was not required.
The mediation process between the parties to the litigation and the Levitt and Moros families, entered into at the recommendation of the Supreme Court, is ongoing. If the temporary order remains in effect on April 3, 2009, Sun expects to extend the Offer while the temporary order remains outstanding.
The Offer was commenced on June 30, 2008 in order to comply with the terms of the Option Agreement between Alkaloida and the controlling shareholders of Taro. Alkaloida exercised its options to acquire shares of Taro from the controlling shareholders on June 25, 2008. The Option Agreement required Alkaloida, promptly after exercising the options, to commence a tender offer at USD 7.75 per Ordinary Share of Taro held by other shareholders. The Offer had previously been scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, March 20, 2009. As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 19, 2009, 31,428 Ordinary Shares had been tendered and not withdrawn from the Offer.
The complete terms and conditions of the Tender Offer are set out in the Offer to Purchase, which is filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Taro shareholders may obtain copies of all of the offering documents, including the Offer to Purchase, free of charge at the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov) or by directing a request to MacKenzie Partners, Inc., the Information Agent for the offer, at 105 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, (212) 929-5500 (Call Collect) or Call Toll-Free (800) 322-2885, Email: tenderoffer@mackenziepartners.com.
Greenhill & Co., LLC is acting as the Dealer Manager for the Tender Offer and MacKenzie is acting as the Information Agent for the Tender Offer.
About Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Established in 1983, listed since 1994 and headquartered in India, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is an international, integrated, speciality pharmaceutical company. It manufactures and markets a large basket of pharmaceutical formulations as branded generics as well as generics in India, U.S. and several other markets across the world. In India, the company is a leader in niche therapy areas of psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, diabetology, gastroenterology, and orthopedics. The company has strong skills in product development, process chemistry, and manufacturing of complex API, as well as dosage forms. More information about the company can be found at www.sunpharma.com.
CONTACT: Uday Baldota, +91-22-6645-5645, Xtn 605, Direct, +91-22-66455605,
Mobile, +91-98670-10529, uday.baldota@sunpharma.com, or Mira Desai,
+91-22-6645-5645, Xtn 606, Direct, +91-22-66455606, Mobile,
+91-98219-23797, mira.desai@sunpharma.com, both of Sun Pharma; or Andrea
Shores of Brunswick Group for Sun Pharma, +1-212-333-3810; or Gali Dahan of
Arad Communications for Sun Pharma, +972-3-7693320; or Robert Marese of
MacKenzie Partners, +1-212-929-5500; or Ashish Contractor of Greenhill,
+1-212-389-1537
Web site: http://www.sunpharma.com/
