Hikma enters Moroccan market with Promopharm purchase
In a cash and mandatory tender offer deal
Hikma Pharmaceuticals, a Jordan-based pharmaceuticals firm, is to buy 63.9% of Promopharm for US$111.2m in cash and will then launch a mandatory tender offer for the rest of the shares in the ninth largest pharmaceuticals manufacturer in Morocco.
Hikma expects to complete the tender offer by the end of the year.
Promopharm currently has a 3.5% market share and generated annual revenues of US$45m and EBITDA of $13.2m in 2010.
The Moroccan market for pharmaceuticals was worth US$1.7bn in retail value terms in 2010 and is expected to grow by around 9% between 2010 and 2014.
Promopharm, which employs around 300 people (including a sales and marketing team of 135), has a portfolio of around 200 branded generic and in-licensed products in multiple dosage strengths and forms, across a broad range of therapeutic areas.
Hikma says there are ‘substantial opportunities’ to supplement Promopharm’s product portfolio in key therapeutic areas and has identified more than 20 anti-infective, CNS, cardiovascular and diabetes products for distribution in the Moroccan market.
Over the longer term, Hikma also sees the potential to bring its injectable and oncology products to Morocco.
Promopharm has a medium-sized production facility with capabilities in general formulation, including tablets, capsules, liquids, creams, ointments and injectables. It has a dedicated anti-infectives facility for oral penicillin.
Promopharm also brings new manufacturing capabilities to Hikma, including eye-drops and effervescents.
Hikma chief executive Said Darwazah said entering the Moroccan market had been a strategic priority for Hikma for some time.
‘We are delighted to have acquired a company that offers such an excellent fit with our long term growth objectives,’ he said.
‘Establishing ourselves as a local manufacturer in Morocco completes our MENA footprint and strengthens our leading position in the region.’
