Aurobindo Pharma acquires Portuguese firm for Rs970 crore

Hyderabad-based Aurobindo pharma has acquired Portuguese pharma company Generis Farmaceutica SA from Magnum Capital Partners in a Euro 135 million (Rs969.3 crore approximately) deal.

The deal includes the acquisition of Generis's manufacturing facility in Amadora, Portugal, that has a capacity to manufacture 1.2 billion tablets/capsules sachets annually .

The deal comes more than two months after Aurobindo lost a bid for Teva's UK and Ireland assets to Ahmedabad-based Intas Pharmaceuticals, which bagged the deal for $764 million (Rs5,085 crore approx).

Aurobindo had, in 2014, acquired NYSE-listed Actavis Plc's commercial operations in seven western European countries.

"The company has signed a binding agreement through its wholly owned step-down subsidiary, Agile Pharma BV Netherlands, to acquire Generis Farmaceutica SA from Magnum Capital Partners," the company stated in a stock exchange filing.

The transaction is conditional on obtaining necessary approvals from the Portuguese authorities,'' Aurobindo Pharma said, adding that the transaction is expected to close by February 2017.

Generis has a wide portfolio of products in therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, anti-infective and genito-urinary system medicines, among others, with estimated annual sales of approximately Euro 72 million in 2017 compared to Euro 64.8 million in 2016. Aurobindo hopes the deal will help it consolidate its footprint in Portugal.

Aurobindo Pharma senior vice-president (European operations) V Muralidharan said the combined entity will benefit from a robust pipeline covering all major molecules going off-patent in the next five years.

"Generis will benefit immensely from Aurobindo's vertical integration and strong product pipeline. Our large portfolio along with our unmatched commercial presence in Portugal will allow Aurobindo to consolidate its market position," Generis CEO Paulo Lilaia said.

Campos Ferreira, Sa Carneiro & Associates, Portugal acted as legal advisers and Grant Thornton India LLP acted as the financial due diligence advisor to Aurobindo Pharma in the deal, Jefferies International acted as the financial advisor and Garrigues acted as the legal advisor to Magnum Capital Partners.

Meanwhile, Aurobindo Pharma on Saturday informed the bourses that it has received the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) nod to manufacture and market Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride injection.