New Delhi :Shares of pharma bellwether Sun Pharma crashed to a six-year low of Rs 375.40 apiece in early trade on Friday after a news report suggested new whistleblower documents had been sent to regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
According to a news report by financial news website Moneylife, huge transactions allegedly took place between Aditya Medisales and private companies of Sun Pharma’s promoters between 2014 and 2017.
The report quoted the 172-page complaint sent by the whistleblower to Sebi (with documents) as saying: “In just over three years, between 2014 and 2017, Aditya Medisales (AML) has had over Rs 5,800 crore of transactions with Suraksha Realty, controlled by Sun Pharma’s co-promoter, Sudhir Valia.”
The stock plunged as much as 12 per cent on BSE. In the past two trading days, the stock has fallen 17 per cent. Based on the low price of Rs 375.40, the company’s valuation got eroded by Rs 12,416 crore in intra-day trade. In two days, the company lost Rs 18,702 crore in its market capitalisation.
Reacting to the news, shares of SPARC (Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company) also took a hit. They plunged to their 52-week low of Rs 158.05 apiece on BSE.
According to a news report by PTI dated December 13, 2018, a whistleblower had in November 2018 approached Sebi with a document alleging various irregularities by the company, its promoter Dilip Shanghvi and others. Sebi had said it was examining the whistleblower complaint against Shanghvi-led Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.
Sources had told PTI in November that Sebi might reopen an insider-trading case against Sun Pharma and also probe alleged lapses by some of its promoters and other entities in raising funds overseas.
In August 2017, Sun Pharma, Shanghvi and nine other entities had settled an insider-trading probe by paying Rs 18 lakh as settlement charges, the report added.
