Novartis India shares surge most in over six years on this important development, check details here

Shares of drugmaker, Novartis India, staged their biggest single day gain in over six years on Friday, February 20. Shares of Novartis India jumped as much as 20%, its biggest single day move since January 1, 2020, to hit an intraday high of ₹996.50 on the BSE.

Novartis India shares came under buying interest after the company informed exchanges that its promoter Novartis AG has entered into an agreement with ChrysCapital, WaveRise Investments and Two Infinity Partners to sell its entire stake in Novartis India.

As per the share purchase agreement, Novartis AG will be selling 1,74,50,680 shares representing 70.68% stake in the company. Acquirer 1 that is WaveRise Investments will acquire 56.45% equity at ₹860.64 per share, while two other acquirers that is ChrysCapital Trust I and Two Infinity Partners will acquire 10.32% and 3.91% stake respectively at ₹701.25 per share.

Following the announcement of share purchase agreement Novartis India announced open offer to acquire up to 64,19,608 fully paid-up equity shares representing 26% from public shareholders at ₹860.64 per share.

"This public announcement (“Public Announcement”) is being issued by Axis Capital Limited, the manager to the Offer (“Manager to the Open Offer”), for and on behalf of the Acquirers and the PACs, to the Public Shareholders of the Target Company, with an intention to acquire substantial number of equity shares, voting rights and control of the Target Company pursuant to and in compliance with Regulation 3(1) and Regulation 4 read with Regulations 13, 14 and 15(1) and other applicable provisions of the SEBI (SAST) Regulations," Novartis India said in a regulatory filing.

Following this development, Novartis India shares witnessed higher than usual trading activity. As many as 7.9 lakh Novartis India shares changed hands compared with an average of 23,000 shares traded daily in the past two weeks.

As of 11:34 am, Novartis India shares traded 13% higher at ₹939, outperforming the BSE 100 index which was up 0.5%.