Strides Arcolab to buy Aspen Pharma’s Australia, Mauritius businesses for $300 m

Drug-maker Strides Arcolab said on Thursday it will acquire two pharmaceutical portfolios of South Africa’s largest generic-drug company, Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, for $301 million.

This move is part of a series of measures by Strides to streamline its portfolio of assets. The latest acquisition will propel the company, one of the fastest growing drug-makers in India, into the big league in the Australian pharma market, putting it among the top three generic pharma suppliers there.

As part of the deal, Strides’ Australian business will get about 130 generic drugs for $209 million (they had sales of A$120 million during the last fiscal year) while its Singapore subsidiary will get a portfolio of six branded products from Aspen’s Mauritius unit for $92 million. “The Aspen Australian generic pharmaceutical assets are a valuable and unique platform for Strides to re-build its business in Australia,” Arun Kumar, Strides’ founder and group CEO, said in a statement.

The Australian business will operate under the Arrow Pharmaceuticals brand and sell both prescription and non-prescription products. The acquisition will also include access to the product pipeline that was under development by Aspen, in the next six months.

Kumar said that strong local management, a market-leading product portfolio supported by Strides’ cost-effective manufacturing will be key ingredients of its business strategy in Australia.The transactions will be financed by a combination of internal reserves and debt. It will be EPS (earnings per share) accretive immediately.

Strides shares reacted positively to news of the acquisition, ending the day at Rs. 1,187.90 on the BSE, about 8.6 per cent higher than their previous closing price. Business Line