Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited (BSE:500420) on October 23, 2023 called the reports about the drug maker in the race to acquire the promoters' stake in Cipla Limited (NSEI:CIPLA) as "speculative". "As a policy we don't want to comment on speculative news," said Sudhir Mehta, Chairman Emeritus of Torrent Pharma, referring to reports about the race to acquire Cipla at the company's earnings call. Mehta said the company's capital allocation will be largely geared towards India.

"India is something which we understand properly, and we have a track record of successfully integrating most of the acquired businesses," Mehta said. Mehta said the leverage the company would take will depend on the cash flows of acquired business. In the past during the Unichem acquisition Torrent took 3x of net debt to EBITDA, which came down substantially over the period of two years.

"Starting at 3x is something which would be comforting, provided that over the next two years the leverage is coming down substantially to maybe 1.5-2x," Mehta said.