Wockhardt has divested its animal health division to Vétoquinol, France, an independent veterinary pharmaceutical laboratory serving both the companion animal and livestock markets Wockhardt's animal health division in India recorded net sales of Rs 77 crore for the year ended December 31, 2008.

A postal ballot to the shareholders that closed on June 1, 2009 approved the divestment of Wockhardt's animal health division. The transaction is subject to the receipt of the necessary administration approvals, and should take effect in the second half of 2009.

For Wockhardt, this initiative to divest its non-core business is a step towards its continued growth plan and a firm focus on its core human pharmaceutical business. Wockhardt is re-inventing itself by taking fundamentally strong and positive steps by restructuring and rationalising its businesses to raise fresh capital and gain investor confidence.

Vétoquinol is a family-owned group specialized exclusively in animal health is the 11th largest laboratory in the world, and nearly 80 per cent of Vétoquinol's revenues come from outside France. Vétoquinol engages in the research and development, production and marketing of medical and nutraceutical products.

Vétoquinol has positioned itself in the curative sector, and has developed expertise in three therapeutic fields: anti-infectives, pain management and anti-inflammatories, and cardiology and nephrology. The group currently distributes its products in one hundred countries throughout Europe, North America and Asia, with subsidiaries in 22 different countries and a network of 140 distributor partners. The company has more than 1,400 employees worldwide.