Laurus Labs shares rose more than 2 per cent on the BSE after the pharma company acquired a 72.55 per cent stake in biotech company, Richcore Lifesciences from Eight Roads Ventures and VenturEast for ₹ 246.67 crore. This acquisition marks the company’s entry into the biologics and biotechnology segments. The shares of Laurus Labs touched an intra-day high of ₹ 298.80 on the back of the news development. At 10:56 am, the shares of Laurus Labs were trading off their intra-day highs at ₹ 292.40, up 2.5 per cent, on the BSE.

Richcore Lifesciences is being valued at ₹ 340 crore and the cost of acquisition will be funded through internal accruals, Laurus Labs said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges. Post successful closure of the transaction, Richcore Lifesciences will be renamed Laurus Bio Pvt. Ltd, Laurus Labs added.

Laurus Labs is one of the leading active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers in India for anti-retroviral (ARV), oncology, cardiovascular and anti-diabetic drugs.