Mumbai, June 24 :    Mumbai, June 24:  The stage is set for the two titans to tie the knot. Parke-Davis India Ltd is to be merged with pharma major Pfizer India Ltd to create the country's fourth largest pharmaceutical company with a turnover of more than Rs 600 crore. The boards of both companies are meeting on Thursday to discuss the merger, long considered overdue with Warner-Lambert, the erstwhile parent of Parke Davis, becoming a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc from June 19, 2000. In a communication to the stock exchanges today, both companies said that the amalgamation will be subject to necessary approvals, including that of their respective boards, shareholders of both Pfizer and Parke-Davis India, as well as the sanction of the Mumbai High Court. Sources close to the company pointed out that the June 27 meeting is likely to only seek an approval from the board for the merger while the swap ratio may be announced at a later date. The merger would create an entity whose products would be marketed by a sales force of 1,200, some of which would include leading brands like Corex (said to be the top brand in the domestic pharma industry), Benadryl, Protinex and Hepashield among many others. Pfizer India officials said the company plans to attain the top slot in every segment where it has a presence. Pfizer India, which reported a turnover of Rs 362 crore for the year ended November 30 2001, has, of late, also introduced a new performance management system apart from hiring a leading PR outfit to work out a corporate image plan. The merger between the duo have been doing the rounds over the past few months. In fact, in August last year, firm indications towards their merger emerged when Hocine Side Said, managing director Pfizer, was appointed as managing director of Parke Davis. Then, Pramod H. Lele resigned as chairman and managing director of Parke Davis as well as from the board of directors of the company. Parke Davis had then said that the appointment of Said was a step towards operationally integrating Pfizer and Parke Davis in the country. Sources said that since then, the operational aspect of the merger has been completed with the successful achievement of the migration of the field force from Parke Davis. Pfizer Inc has a 40 per cent stake in Pfizer Ltd, while Warner-Lambert held 22.16 per cent in Parke-Davis India. Industry experts said that while synergies existed in most product areas, concerns centred around the cough syrup category, where Benadryl and Corex are competing products. Parke-Davis (India) Ltd was incorporated in 1958. Some of its major products included Chloromycetin- the first broad spectrum antibiotic, Benadryl- an anti-tussive and an anti allergic and Ponstan-an analgesic. Apart from these, the other well-established brands include Gelusil, Neko and Listerine. A few core segments of Pfizer India include anti-tussives, anti-infectives, vitamins, cardio vascular and vaccines. Among these, anti-tussives is the largest among various therapeutic categories, contributing to almost 35 per cent of its total sales. Some of its recently launched brands such as Hepashield and Magnex have been reporting double digit growth rates. On the BSE today, the Parke-Davis scrip met with selling pressure at higher levels after it had opened at Rs 175 and shot to Rs 182.90. It closed marginally lower from these levels to end at Rs 180.05. On the other hand, the Pfizer scrip finished at Rs 464.95 after opening at Rs 466.05 and rising to Rs 469. Astra Pharma move Sweden-based Astra Pharmaceuticals AB has increased its stake in its subsidiary AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd from 56.5 per cent to 87 per cent through an open offer, aggregating in an approximate outgo of Rs 57 crore.