AN INDIRECT, wholly owned subsidiary of IHH Healthcare : Q0F 0% is seeking 20 billion yen (S$179.5 million) in damages from Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo, the group said on Tuesday (Nov 14).

Northern TK Venture (NTK), which filed the claim in the Tokyo district court on Oct 16, alleged that Daiichi Sankyo caused losses by preventing NTK from proceeding with open offers to buy a stake in Fortis Healthcare in 2018.

On top of the damages, NTK is seeking an injunction to stop Daiichi from making defamatory remarks in the future regarding the open offers. It also wants Daiichi to publish a statement on its website and on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to vindicate NTK’s reputation.

NTK’s court filing was delivered to Daiichi Sankyo by the court on Nov 13, IHH said. It does not expect the claim to have any material operational or financial impact on the group.

To recap, IHH Healthcare halted its open offer to buy an additional stake in Fortis after the Indian Supreme Court put the sale on hold in December 2018. This came after Daiichi initiated contempt proceedings against Fortis to maintain status quo on the deal with IHH.

The Japanese drugmaker had argued that certain transactions between IHH and Fortis violated the court’s directions.

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IHH is listed in Singapore and Malaysia. Its shares on the Singapore Exchange were trading 0.6 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$1.71 as at 4.04 pm on Tuesday.