Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals Limited (Dishman), Ahmedabad-based contract research and manufacturing company, is entering the capital market with a public issue of 34.33 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each in the last week of March 2004. This will constitute 25.01 per cent of the fully diluted post issue paid-up capital. The company received necessary SEBI clearance for propose IPO through 100 per cent Book-Building route. The company has fixed the price band of Rs 155 to 175 per share. The management is expecting to raise Rs 55-60 crore to part finance its future plans.

Dishman, promoted by J R Vyas, is a research driven company in synthetic chemistry and currently it is producing Quats & Specialty Chemicals, a range of sophisticated bulk actives and intermediates. It is also undertaking contract manufacturing and contract research. It has two GMP manufacturing plants located at Naroda and Bavla in Gujarat. Its Bavla plant, set during 1997, is became a 100 per cent EOU

Two of the production units (including one built as per guidelines laid by US FDA API facility) are dedicated to Solvay Pharmaceuticals B.V., Netherlands, with whom Dishman has a long-term supply contract for patented anti-hypertensive drug whose patent expires in 2013. The process to manufacture three starting materials required to produce the drug is developed by Dishman and its Intellectual Property Rights are of Dishman.

Proceeds of the IPO will be use to set up new facilities and expansion of old facilities. It is setting up a new active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and GMP intermediate manufacturing plant, as well as an R&D center at its Bavla unit.

The company achieved sales of Rs 114.40 crore and earned a net profit of Rs 14.3 crore during the year ended March 2003. Total exports accounts for 82 per cent.