Biological E may raise $250 mn from PE firms

Indian vaccine producer Biological E is in discussions with global private equity (PE) investors General Atlantic, and TA Associates, among others, to raise up to $250 million by selling a minority stake in the company, two people familiar with the matter said.

- Ranjani Raghavan & Sneha Shah

Biological E, which has a partnership with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to manufacture one billion doses of covid vaccines, including a single-dose vaccine developed by J&J, is now valued at $1 billion, they said. “Global PE funds such as General Atlantic and TA Associates are in talks to pick up a minority stake," one of the persons said seeking anonymity.

The second person said the company has appointed investment bank Goldman Sachs to find an investor. “A part of fresh capital will go towards retiring some debt," the person added.

Earlier, The Economic Times reported that Biological E was seeking to raise funding from PE firms to finance its plans to hive off its vaccine business.