Sun Pharma tumbles on reports of fresh whistleblower complaint

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd plunged 13 percent on Friday to near six-year lows, hit by reports that a whistleblower filed a complaint to regulators over transactions involving the top Indian drugmaker and its co-promotor.

The complaint, sent to capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), is the second in over a month and comes as Sun Pharma already battles a product recall and regulatory investigation over reported insider trading.

The whistleblower alleged in a 172-page complaint that Sun Pharma`s distributor Aditya Medisales had transactions worth more than 58 billion rupees ($815 million) with Suraksha Realty, controlled by Sun`s co-promoter Sudhir Valia, a report by Moneylife magazine said. 

Reuters was unable to review the document.

Sun Pharma`s payment to Aditya Medisales was transferred to the promoter and group companies between 2014 and 2017, Moneylife founder Debashis Basu told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. 

Sun Pharma said in a filing to Indian stock exchange on Friday that it has not received the complaint and was not privy to contents of the document.

Shares in Sun Pharma, India`s top drugmaker by market value, dropped 13 percent in heavy trading, losing nearly $1.5 billion of its market value on Friday.

Watch Zee Business Tweet video here:

ख़बर पर सही पकड़, कमाई की सही स्ट्रैटेजी सिर्फ #ZeeBusiness पर। pic.twitter.com/E2QFQrmXxt

— Zee Business (@ZeeBusiness) January 18, 2019

The stock has been under pressure since last month due to concerns over its corporate governance and a product recall.

In December, a media report said SEBI, helped by a whistleblower tipoff, was likely to reopen an insider trading case against Sun and probe alleged lapses by some of Sun`s promoters in raising funds overseas.

SEBI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request seeking comment.

Earlier this month, Sun recalled muscle relaxant vecuronium bromide for injection due to the presence of glass.