Biocon Limited is entering the capital market with an IPO next month. The issue will open on March 11 and close on March 18, 2004. The company has opted for the 100 per cent book building method for efficient price discovery. The price band has been fixed at Rs. 270-Rs. 315 per equity share of face value of Rs. 5.

The offer would constitute 10 per cent of the fully diluted post issue paid-up capital of the company. Biocon will list the equity shares on the Stock Exchange, Mumbai and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. The post issue paid-up capital will be Rs. 100 crore. Qualified institutional buyers constitute 60 per cent of the issue, which is allocated on discretionary basis. At least 15 per cent of the shares areallocated on a proportional basis to non institutional buyers. The retail portion constitute around 25 per cent of the shares allocated on proportionate basis. The outstanding prior to the issue is 90,000,000 equity shares. Post issue equity shares are 100,000,000. The paid-up capital will be Rs 45 crore and post issue capital will be Rs 50 crore.

The proceeds of the issue will be used for setting up new facilities to augment our submerged fermentation plant and chemical synthesis operations, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman and managing director, Biocon Limited said.

The Biocon IPO road-shows will be held in Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Ahmedabad, respectively.The fund managers in the USA have already been identified by the company.

The company with its twosubsidiaries Syngene Internationaland Clinigene International specializes in biopharmaceuticals, custom research, clinical research and enzymes has generated revenues to the tune of Rs. 399 crore ending the nine month period between March- December 2003. The profit after tax was Rs.95 crore.

The business plan of Biocon revolves around its statins: lovastatin, simvastatin, artovastain, pravastatin (all active pharmaceutical ingredients) that accounted for 42.7 per cent and 54.5 per cent of the company total sales for the fiscal 2003 and first nine months of the fiscal 2004 respectively where the company has succeeded in thecompetitive regulated markets of US and Europe.

In mid-March 2004, the company plans to enter the domestic Indian market with recombinant human insulin called 'Insugen'with its own range of branded formulations in cardiology and diabetes. It is the first Indian company to file a drug master file for r-human insulin.

DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd. and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd.- the Book Running Lead Managers along with HSBC Securities & Capital Markets (India) Pvt. Ltd., the Co-Book Running Lead Manager, rate Biocon Limited share pricing 15-17 times per share earnings of Ranbaxy for the year ending of March 2005.