Sun Pharmaceutical Sends Letter to Directors of Taro

MUMBAI, India, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Reuters: SUN.BO, Bloomberg: SUNP IN, NSE: SUNPHARMA, BSE: 524715) today sent a letter to Directors of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Taro) regarding the outcome at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders of Taro scheduled for December 31, 2009.

The full text of Sun's letter to Directors of Taro appears below:

    January 11, 2010

    To

    Arye Barak
    Heather Douglas, Esq.
    Prof. Micha Friedman
    Eric Johnston, Esq.
    Prof. Gad Keren
    Myron Strober, CPA

    Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Limited
    14 Hakitor Street
    P.O. Box 10347
    Haifa Bay 26110, Israel
    Fax: 972-4-872-7165

Dear All:

As you know, the Annual General Meeting of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. took place on December 31, 2009. The results of the voting show that over 75% of votes cast by Taro shareholders who are not aligned with the Levitt family or with Sun have rejected the continuing control of the Levitt family and their designees to Taro's board of directors. It is now clear that an overwhelming majority of Taro's public shareholders demand a change in the control of Taro and the composition of its board of directors.

Your repeated claims that you initiated and continue to maintain the ongoing legal proceedings against Sun in order to protect this minority are completely untenable. It has been apparent to Sun from the beginning that your real interest in commencing the various litigations on behalf of Taro against Sun was and remains your misplaced and unexplained desire to help only the Levitt family avoid their contractual obligation to sell their shares in Taro to us. Now Taro's public shareholders have come to recognize this fact. These litigations have done nothing to advance the interests of the "silent minority shareholders" of Taro, as you have wrongly claimed, but have instead done them a disservice.

In light of these results, and with any residual sense of your fiduciary duties as directors, we expect that you will now reconsider and reverse your position regarding these actions. Failing to do so, and continuing to provide active support, with Taro funds, to the Levitt family in its attempt to avoid its contractual obligations towards us, will constitute a further breach of your fiduciary duties to Taro as well as its shareholders.

In addition, as our attorneys have confirmed to Taro in the past, please be advised that we will take all necessary legal action to reverse the cynical attempt by the Levitt family to reward you, again with the funds of Taro, for the actions you have taken at their behest by purporting to ratify and expand your indemnification agreements. We are confident that the Israeli courts will reject this unwarranted raid on Taro's treasury.

This letter is delivered without prejudice to any other claim, argument or remedy that we have or may have against you in this or any other matter.

    Sincerely,

    Sincerely yours,
    For Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.


    /s/ Dilip Shanghvi

    Dilip Shanghvi
    Chairman & Managing Director


    Copy to:

    1.    The Board of Directors
          Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Limited
          14 Hakitor Street
          P.O. Box 10347
          Haifa Bay 26110, Israel
          Fax: 972-4-872-7165

    2.    The Board of Directors
          Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Limited
          Euro Park (Italy Building)
          Yakum Business Park
          Yakum 60972, Israel
          Fax:  972-9-955-7443

    3.    The Board of Directors
          Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
          Three Skyline Drive, Hawthorne
          New York 10532, USA
          Fax: 1-914-345-8728

About Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Established in 1983, listed since 1994 and headquartered in India, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Reuters: SUN.BO, Bloomberg: SUNP IN, NSE: SUNPHARMA, BSE: 524715) is an international, integrated, speciality pharmaceutical company. It manufactures and markets a large basket of pharmaceutical formulations as branded generics as well as generics in India, US and several other markets across the world. In India, the company is a leader in niche therapy areas of psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, diabetology, gastroenterology, and orthopedics. The company has strong skills in product development, process chemistry, and manufacturing of complex API, as well as dosage forms. More information about the company can be found at www.sunpharma.com

Contacts

    Uday Baldota                          Mira Desai
    Tel: +91 22 6645 5645, Xtn 605        Tel: +91 22 6645 5645, Xtn 606
    Tel Direct: +91 22 66455605           Tel Direct: +91 22 66455606
    Mobile: +91 98670 10529               Mobile: +91 98219 23797
    E mail: [email protected]    E mail: [email protected]

    Brunswick Group for Sun Pharma        MacKenzie Partners
    Erin Becker/Nicki Kahner              Robert Marese
    +1 212 333 3810                       +1 212 929 5500

    Arad Communications for Sun Pharma    Greenhill
    Irit Radia / Anat Paz                 Ashish Contractor
    +972-54-6699311 / +972-3-7693333      +1 212 389 1537

SOURCE Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.