Piramal group reported today, PEL DRG, a subsidiary of PEL and the holding company for Decision Resources Group (DRG) engaged in healthcare and analytics business, has signed a agreement for the sale of DRG to Clarivate Analytics, for  $950 Million (includes $900 million on closing and $50 million to be received at the end of 12 months from the date of closing). This transaction is subject to shareholder approval and is expected to be completed by end February 2020.

"PEL had initially invested $650 million in 2012 to acquire DRG, of which $260 million was infused as equity. It has realised 2.3 times its initial equity investment in rupee terms," the company said.

Commenting on the deal, Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Group, said, “Along with the ongoing equity capital raise in PEL, this transaction further strengthens the company’s balance sheet and marks another step towards significantly unlocking value in future."

Jerre Stead, Executive Chairman and CEO, Clarivate Analytics, said this is a milestone acquisition, which doubles the size of its life sciences business. "The deal is accretive to our 2020 earnings and sets us up as an essential, end-to-end, industry-leading data and analytics provider in the highly attractive Life Sciences ecosystem,” he added.

DRG caters to the information needs of pharmaceutical, insurance and hospitals, had contributed Rs 1,330.74 crore, or about 10 percent of PEL’s consolidated revenue of 13,215 crore.