South Africa's Adcock Ingram to buy Cosme Farma drug business for Rs480 crore

South Africa's second-largest drug maker Adcock Ingram yesterday said that it will buy the Indian drug business of Cosme Farma Laboratories Limited for Rs480 crore ($86 million) in cash.

The acquisition will be carried out through Adcock Ingram Healthcare Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary of Adcock Ingram, while the assets will be acquired from Cosme and two other group companies, Cosme Remedies Limited and Cosme Pharmaceuticals Limited. 

The all-cash deal will give Adcock Ingram distribution facilities in 27 Indian states and a range of drugs covering dermatology, gynaecology, gastro-intestinal and orthopaedic medicine.

Founded in 2010 by P J Menezes, Goa-based Cosme is a diversified family-owned business, headed by Cosme Menezes. The company has been operating in the Indian domestic pharmaceutical market for the past 40 years.

It is a mid-sized sales and marketing pharmaceutical business with offices and operations in Goa and Mumbai. Cosme is ranked 55th out of the approximately 5,000 registered pharmaceutical companies in India, as per IMS Health.

It has a sales force of approximately 1,000 staff that and distribution capabilities in 27 states in India. Cosme has a portfolio of products in several therapeutic classes, key being gynaecology, gastro-intestinal, dermatology and orthopaedic.