Aurobindo Pharma mulls bidding for Teva Pharmaceutical’s $1.5 bn drug portfolio

Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma Ltd is among companies mulling a bid for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' portfolio of drugs in the UK, Ireland and Iceland worth around $1.5 billion, Bloomberg today reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Teva, the world's biggest generic drugmaker, is divesting drugs worth around $2-billion in order to win regulatory approval for its $40.5-billion proposed acquisition of Allergan's generic business (See: Teva readies to divest $2 bn in assets to win US regulatory approval for Allergan).

A purchase of the Teva portfolio would be Aurobindo's largest acquisition, surpassing its $132.5 million purchase of US vitamin maker Natrol Inc. in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Aurobindo would finance the deal with a loan of more than $1 billion, but no final decision has been made, and the company could still decide against a bid, the report said.

Last month, Teva struck a deal to sell its US generic products to Australia's Mayne Pharma Group Ltd for $652 million, and a portfolio of generic drugs to US-based technology-based specialty pharmaceutical company Impax Laboratories Inc for about $586 million.

Zydus Cadila Healthcare has also agreed to acquire two abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) from Teva for an undisclosed sum. The deal is however contingent on the closing of the Teva-Allergan Generics transaction and approval by the US Federal Trade Commission.

In July last year, Teva struck a deal to buy Ireland-based Allergan Plc's generic pharmaceuticals business for $40.5-billion in cash and stock, the largest-ever acquisition by an Israeli company. 

The deal has already been approved by European antitrust regulators after Teva agreed to divest a majority of Allergan's current generics business in the UK and Ireland, while in will sell its own business in Iceland.

The US Federal Trade Commission has held back clearance and is waiting for Teva to offer a list of fairly extensive divestitures.

Among the largest vertically integrated pharmaceutical companies in India, Aurobindo Pharma manufactures generic pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
 
The company's product portfolio is spread over 6 major therapeutic/product areas encompassing antibiotics, anti-retrovirals, CVS, CNS, gastroenterologicals, and anti-allergics.

Its manufacturing facilities are approved by several leading regulatory agencies like US FDA, UK's MHRA, Japan's PMDA, WHO, Health Canada, MCC of South Africa and ANVISA of Brazil.

The company markets its products in over 125 countries and has an annual turnover of around $1.8 billion.