Intas Pharma Acquired Teva Pharma for Rs 5100 Cr

Ahmedabad, India based Intas Pharma’s acquisition of Teva Pharma’s units in the UK and Ireland is is estimated as an enterprise value of around £600 million (about Rs 5100 Crore)

NEW DELHI: According to experts this acquisition is said to be a major milestones for Indian companies in the UK post Brexit. The acquisition is being done by Accord Healthcare, an arm of Intas. In one of the largest overseas acquisitions by a domestic pharmaceutical company, Intas pipped Aurobindo Pharma, which had also evinced interest to acquire Teva's assets. Intas, which is owned by the Chudgar family, will acquire the assets in an all-cash deal.

Commenting on the development, Siggi Olafsson, president & CEO Global Generic Medicines Teva, said, "The sale has been a success for Teva in that we have satisfied the European Commission's sale requirements for these businesses, subject to their final approval, and agreed on a good price for the assets."

With the assets that it will retain, Teva will create an even stronger operation in the UK and Ireland, he said.

The transaction is expected to close in the next three months and is subject to final approval from the European Commission.

“This transaction represents a unique opportunity for Intas to build scale in the UK and 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.

“We have a clear plan for the continuation and development of the Barnstaple site and the Actavis UK and Ireland teams,” he added.

The Background of the Deal 

In July last year, Teva had entered into a definitive agreement with Allergan to acquire its generics arm - Allergan Generics - in a transaction valued at $40.5 billion. The deal was completed in August.

Allergan Generics had been formed after Allergan merged with Actavis Generics.

However, both the US FedTrade Commission and the European Commission raised anti-trust issues for which Teva had to sell the rights and assets relating to 79 pharmaceutical products to settle charges that the acquisition of Allergan plc's generic pharmaceutical business would be anticompetitive.

Teva divested its drug portfolio to 11 firms and the divested products included anaesthetics, antibiotics, weight loss drugs, oral contraceptives, and treatments for a wide variety of diseases.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories was among the pharmaceutical firms which acquired eight drugs from Teva.

The divestment of the specified Actavis Generics (part of Allergan) assets and operations in the UK and Ireland are also part of the undertaking that Teva made to the European Commission earlier this year, the company said in a statement.

The sale will include a portfolio of generic medicines plus a manufacturing plant in Barnstaple, England.

Teva retains a number of Actavis non-overlapping generic products plus certain specialty medicines and OTC (over-the-counter) products, which have been added to Teva's existing operations, it added.

Advantages for Intas

For Intas, which has the Singapore-based investment company Temasek and ChrysCapital as investors, the deal with Teva will catapult it to the big league of domestic pharmaceutical firms that have made a successful splash in the overseas markets.

Intas, which clocked a turnover of Rs 5,100 crore in 2014-15, is present in more than 70 countries worldwide.

Intas is present in therapeutic categories such as cardiovascular system, diabetology, gynecology, infertility, respiratory care, gastroenterology and pain management, among others.

The company was in the news last year when it announced the acquisition of Combino Pharma's hospital business in Spain and Portugal for an undisclosed sum.

At that time the acquisition was also routed through Accord Healthcare.