Blackstone seals $1billion deal to buy Piramal Glass with eye on Covid vaccine vials

Private equity major Blackstone is reported to have clinched a deal to acquire Piramal Glass for around $1 billion as it sees a surge in demand for glass vials required to store Covid-19 vaccine vials. The deal includes an upfront payment of $850 million and Piramal Group will get another $150 million over the next two years on achieving certain milestones.

The Piramal Group’s glass business had become an attractive buy as the demand for specialised glass for storing injectable drugs is seen shooting up with the vaccination process for Covid-19 getting underway on a world scale. The company is amongst the handful of firms in the world that has the capability to manufacture glass vials that can be used for storing and distributing vaccines on a large scale. Piramal Glass makes container glass packaging with a capacity of 1,475 tons per day. It has factories in the USA, India, and Sri Lanka. Its glass packaging is also used for cosmetics, food and beverages.

This will be the second billion-dollar deal by Piramal Group this year after having sold US-based DRG to capitalise the group which has a strong non-banking finance business.

Blackstone has a market value of $40 billion of assets in India, making it to the top 10 business groups in India..