Two investment funds and one international pharmaceuticals company are on the shortlist to take over drug producer LaborMed Pharma.
Advent International and GED Capital, investment funds which are not at their first involvement with the pharmaceutical industry, and Teva Pharmacautical, the largest producer of generic drugs worldwide, are negotiating the takeover of the majority stake in LaborMed Pharma, sources from the industry told ZF. Advent is seen as the favourite, with the company's value being estimated at around 120 million euros.
Until last year, Advent used to hold the main stake in the local producer Terapia, which was taken over by the Indian-based Ranbaxy, in a transaction worth 324 million US dollars, while GED owned local producer Sicomed until the end of 2005, when it was taken over by Czech-based Zentiva. Israeli giant Teva does not have local production facilities, being present on the local market only through a representative office, with business estimated at 16 million US dollars this year.
Representatives of the fund and of the company could not be contacted by the time this issue was ready for print. LaborMed is currently the only sizeable Romanian drug producer held by local entrepreneurs. Its shareholders are Marilena Jiquidi (26.13%), Ionel Lovin (26.13%), Iliana Ghita (26.13%), Constantin Mircioiu (6.61%) and Georgi Stoyanov Georgiev (15%). Several months ago, they hired Raiffeisen Investment Romania to advise the company in its sales process.
The takeover of pharmaceuticals company LaborMed is one of the last opportunities for international players to enter the local market, which boasts one of the highest growth rates in the region. Another producer which is expected to privatise in 2008 is Antibiotice Iasi.
LaborMed saw an almost 40% net profit margin last year and this year completed a 13 million-euro investment in its own production centre in Bucharest, with a capacity of up to 1.5 billion doses a year.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
