Sun Pharma, India's leading pharmaceutical group by market capitalization, is reportedly pursuing talks to acquire Swedish drug-maker Meda AB.

Citing anonymous sources, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also reported on Friday that Mumbai-based generic drug-maker Sun Pharma was in talks with lenders to finance the deal. The Journal also reported that Meda, one of the Sweden's largest pharmaceutical firms, could be worth in the range of $4.5 billion to $5 billion.

The report said, "Meda has a market value of roughly 25 billion kronor in Stockholm, meaning that with a typical takeover premium of 25% to 30%, it could be worth between $4.5 billion and $5 billion."

When contacted, a spokesperson for Sun Pharma declined to comment saying they didn't want to comment on media conjecture.

Sun Pharma, which is run and controlled by founder Dilip Shanghvi, has annual turnover of more than $2 billion and market capitalization of around $20 billion. It took Sun Pharma nearly three decades to cross the $1 billion mark but less than four years to cross $2 billion, which it did last fiscal.

Sun Pharma shares shed 2.54 per cent to close at Rs 1,045.5 apiece on Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.