India makes its mark in the US market

From ICT to pharmaceuticals, Indian firms have made some major strides in the American market in recent months. TCS among Top 100 US brands

Tata Consultancy Services, India's leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, announced its ranking as the 58th most valuable US brand in the annual 'Top 500 US Brands' survey by brand valuation firm Brand Finance. The Brand Finance study evaluates the financial value of a company's brand name, intellectual assets and trademark as compared to companies across industries. TCS is one of only four global IT services companies recognised as a Top 100 Brand in the US and is the sector's most powerful brand with a score of 78.3 points, earning it an AA+ rating. Moreover, TCS brand value grew 286 per cent from $2.3 billion in 2010 to $9.04 billion in 2016, marking the fastest growth across the IT Services industry during this period. David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, said: “TCS' customer focus has been central to its recent success, but a closer look at our data shows strong and improving scores for brand investment and staff satisfaction, too. “It has emerged as a dominant force in the IT services industry and is the strongest brand in the sector. Its brand power is indisputable.” Chennai firm plans US expansion

Chennai-based self-publishing start-up Notion Press announced it has raised $1 million in pre-series A funding. Naveen Valsakumar, co-founder and CEO, Notion Press said: "We are growing aggressively and looking to go international this year. We will be intensifying our coverage across India and fuel our operations internationally as well with the raised funds. “We are launching our US operations in the middle of September and would be launching in three other countries by end of this financial year. With support from our investor group, we will be able to execute our vision more rapidly and broadly." The firm also wants to venture into the regional language space, leveraging the technology. It was founded in 2012 and has published over 2,000 authors across 100 countries. It offers various publishing, book printing, distribution and marketing services to both authors and publishers from around the world. India′s Azure Power applies for New York IPO

Indian solar power producer Azure Power Global Ltd reduced the number of shares it plans to sell under its initial public offering (IPO) in New York after it agreed a $75-million (€67mn) investment from a Canadian pension fund manager. Azure Power said last month it planned to sell a bit over 5.86 million equity shares at an estimated price of between $21.00 and $23.00 apiece. The company has revised its filing and now intends to offer 2.45 million shares at that price range. The reason for this move is that CDPQ Infrastructures Asia Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned unit of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, has agreed to buy $75 million worth of newly issued equity shares at a price per share that is equal to the lesser of $22.00 and the actual IPO price. The Madangir-based company was founded in 2009 and booked $46 million in sales for the 12 months ended June 30, 2016. Piramal to acquire Belgian brands

Piramal Enterprises has announced that its UK critical care subsidiary has agreed to acquire five anaesthesia and pain management injectable products from Belgian Janssen Pharmaceutica in a deal valued at $175 million. This would be Piramal′s sixth healthcare acquisition over the last two years. Of the previous five, three deals were in the OTC space, while two were in pharmaceutical solutions. In reference to the latest acquisition, Piramal said the recently acquired injectable versions of Janssen brands - Sublimaze (fentanyl citrate), Sufenta (sufentanil citrate), Rapifen (alfentanil hydrochloride), Dipidolor (piritramide), and Hypnomidate (etomidate) - were being marketed in 50 countries including Europe, Japan and the emerging markets. The company said it will pay $155 million upfront in cash and the rest on meeting certain agreed sales-related financial milestones over the next 30 months, which could earn Janssen an additional $20 million. The deal will bolster the portfolio of critical care drugs for the company, and help it to enter the hospital segment, it added. Flipkart opens Silicon Valley office

India's largest e-commerce marketplace Flipkart has set up a base in Silicon Valley. The company's chief technology officer, Peeyush Ranjan, tweeted that Flipkart is now live in the Bay Area, with their new office opening in Palo Alto, California. The company's main Indian rival, Snapdeal, had opened data centres in the US earlier this year. October is peak shopping season in India, marked by Diwali and the days leading up to the festival are filled with massive sales akin to Black Friday and Thanksgiving sales in the US. Flipkart, often dubbed as India's Amazon, is one of the country's largest online retailers and has been running its annual festive sale called “The Big Billion Days” for three years now. Among India's other ICT start-ups, InMobi, Zomato and Freshdesk also have a base in the US. Aurobindo Pharma eyes US growth

Homegrown pharmaceuticals firm Aurobindo Pharma expects to launch 19 approved products that have an addressable market of $6.8 billion in the US in the next three quarters. "We have 19 product families that are approved, that will be launched over the next three quarters and that is for approvals that we have on hand today," Aurobindo Pharma USA CEO Robert Cunard told analysts. He further said the company has another 22 targeted "action dates through the end of the financial year" although it does not "anticipate all those will be final approvals but a significant number will be". In terms of the potential of the product pipeline, Cunard said: "And of that 19 product families today, the addressable market is about $6.8 billion as per IMS June data." While a large portion of that is Esomeprazole, still "a lot of breadth remains in that pipeline and we think that accelerates through the balance of the financial year", he added. Cunard said Aurobindo is trying to focus and ensure maintainers of service levels, introduce the products and get the most out of the launches. In terms of preparedness on the manufacturing side, he said although the company had "some catching up to do as far as validation and manufacturing" is concerned , it is "in a good position with that now, the facilities have been able to step up and we are in a good position to launch those over the next three quarters." Commenting on the over the counter (OTC) segment in the US, Aurobindo Pharma MD N Govindarajan said the company expects a spurt in growth in the second half of 2017-18. "Right now, it (OTC) is still less than $10 million in terms of the current sale...As you would appreciate the fact that at the end of the day you need to have a critical mass in terms of the market before you really grow in this business," he said. "As far as products (are concerned), we have 20 products in the (US) market under OTC segment," he added.