Amarchand and Weil Gotshal lead on Piramal Healthcares acquisition of US-based Decision Resources Group

Mumbai-based Piramal Healthcare continues its overseas expansion with the decision to acquire US based Decision Resources Group, a health information-management company from private equity firm Providence Equity Partners for Rs. 3400 crore ($635 million)..Amarchand Mangaldas advised Piramal Healthcare with a team led by Managing Partner Cyril Shroff..Mintz Levin acted as US Legal Counsel to Piramal Healthcare. Mintz team was led by Of Counsel Bram Shapiro..Weil, Gotshal & Manges acted as sole legal advisor to Providence Equity Partners..KPMG were the Indian tax advisors to Piramal while Deloitte acted as US tax advisor. Barclays is acting as lead financial advisor to Decision Resources Group with Oppenheimer & Co. acting as co-advisor..Following the completion of the acquisition, Piramal will operate Decision Resources Group as a stand-alone business. Decision Resources Group will remain headquartered in Burlington, MA. The deal is expected to close by June 30, subject to regulatory approvals, according to the company press release..Decision Resources Group provides web-enabled research, predictive analytics via proprietary databases and consulting services to the global healthcare industry, and 48 of the top 50 global pharma companies are its customers..The US-based company’s business is divided into three marker segments: the Biopharma business unit provides reports, databases and advisory services on drug utilization trends and forecasting in a variety of therapeutic areas; the Market Access business provides database and analytical services that healthcare companies use to assess the current and future opportunity of their products’ acceptance into a market; and the Medical Technology business provides actionable insights and data on the medical device markets..According to Dealcurry, Piramal Healthcare has recently acquired the molecular imaging development portfolio of Bayer Pharma AG. The acquisition is being made through it’s newly created subsidiary – Piramal Imaging SA..This acquisition is a part of Piramal’s efforts to build a branded pharmaceutical products business after it sold its local generic-drugs business to Abbott Healthcare in 2010 for an up-front payment of $2.12 billion (Rs. 9,945 crore) and an additional $400 million (Rs.1,876 crore) to be paid annually for the next four years. Luthra & Luthra had advised Abbott while Crawford Bayley advised Piramal.