Proxy Firms Urge Shareholders To Reject Strides Pharma’s Proposed Business Consolidation Over Valuation Concerns

Proxy advisory firms Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES), Institutional Investors Advisory Services (IiAS), and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) have advised investors to vote against the proposed consolidation of certain businesses of Strides Pharma Science with two of its group companies. The firms argue that one of the unlisted affiliates has been given a higher valuation, which they believe is detrimental to the interests of the shareholders of the listed entity.

Strides Pharma is seeking shareholder approval for the consolidation with Steriscience Specialties and Onesource Specialty (formerly Stelis Biopharma). The e-voting process ends today, with a shareholders’ meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Steriscience, a promoter-controlled entity, counts TPG Private Equity as a minority investor. Strides Pharma owns a 26.4% stake in Onesource directly and an additional 4.4% through a subsidiary, with the remaining shares held by promoters and other investors. The proxy firms have raised concerns over the valuation of Onesource, set at 39x EBITDA for FY25 (estimated).