Intas to buy Teva's UK, Ireland generics business for Rs5,083 cr

India's Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd yesterday struck a deal to buy Allergan Plc's generics business in the UK and Ireland from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd for $769.37 million (Rs5,083 crore) in cash.

Intas, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Accord Healthcare, will acquire Actavis UK and Actavis Ireland from Israeli generic drug giant Teva.

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

The Intas transaction is part of the European Commission's (EC)anti-trust divestiture requirements arising from Teva's acquisition of Actavis Generics.

In March, the EC had approved Teva's acquisition of the generics drug unit of Allergan on condition that it divests some drugs, mainly Allergan products in the UK and Ireland. (See: European regulator approves Teva's $40.5-bn Allergan drug unit deal with conditions)

Both companies agreed to divest a majority of Allergan Generics marketed generics activities and generics activities in development pipeline in Ireland and the UK, covering the manufacture, supply and distribution of these products, including Allergan Generics' manufacturing plant in Barnstaple, UK, where most of the generics it sells in Ireland and the UK are manufactured.

Actavis UK & Ireland is one of the leading suppliers of generic pharmaceuticals in both the UK and Irish markets with selected assets and operations across the respective markets.

The company focuses on providing high quality generic products to both pharmacies and wholesalers in the UK & Ireland.

The company generated over £250 million of sales in 2015.

Privately held Intas, backed by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek and India focused private equity firm ChrysCapital, has an annual turnover of over $1 billion - of which 60 per cent is generated from international operations.

The Ahmadabad-based company operates over 10 manufacturing facilities worldwide, has a presence in 70 countries and more than 80 per cent of its revenue coming from the US, UK and EU.

The addition of Barnstaple manufacturing facility will become the company's fourth UK site

The deal will give Intas extensive local supply chains to service pharmacies, hospitals and wholesalers across the UK and Ireland and also into Europe.

''Through our subsidiary, Accord Healthcare, we have been operating successfully in Europe for more than a decade and this acquisition will make Accord a leading generics player in the UK market,'' said Sara Vincent, Actavis SVP UK and Ireland.

''This transaction represents a unique opportunity for Intas to build scale in the UK & Ireland - adding to our market leading hospital franchise - and creates a strong platform for further European expansion'' said Binish Chudgar, vice chairman and managing director of Intas.