India's Sun Pharma to buy remaining stake in Israeli unit Taro for about $348 million

(Reuters) - India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited said on Wednesday it would buy all the shares of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries it does not already own for $43 per share in cash, effectively taking full control of its unit.

Sun Pharma's offer amounts to about $347.8 million, as per Reuters calculations, with the per share value at a 4.2% premium to Taro's close on Wednesday.

The Indian drugmaker, which currently owns about 78.5% stake in Taro, had offered to buy its remaining stake for $38 per share in May.

The deal comes as a culmination to nearly 17 years of back and forth to gain full control of the U.S.-listed generic drugmaker which does most of its business in the United States and Canada.

Upon completion of the merger, which is expected to close in the first half of the year, Taro would become a privately held company and will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, the companies said.

The U.S. government had in November dismissed charges against a former Taro executive who was accused of conspiring to fix generic drug prices between 2013 and 2015.

Taro in July 2020 agreed to pay more than $200 million to resolve criminal price-fixing allegations amid a broad crackdown by the Justice Department on alleged pricing abuses in the generic drug market.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)