Indian drugmakers Aurobindo Pharma and Intas Pharmaceuticals have submitted binding bids to acquire products from Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the UK, Iceland and Ireland.
A report by The Economic Times said Teva is undergoing a range of divestitures to fulfil anti-trust issues ahead of its $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan’s generics business.
The Indian firms have submitted binding bids for $1 billion. While Aurobindo is advised by Morgan Stanley, Intas is advised by investment bank Moelis, the report said.
Intas and Aurobindo did not immediately respond to email queries for comments.
This would be Aurobindo’s second bid for Teva’s assets. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission of the US said Aurobindo would acquire one product from Teva in the US region within 10 days of Teva and Allergan’s merger.
Teva is divesting a basket of products across the US, the UK and Middle East to pacify regulators.
In a ruling in March 2016, the European Commission, which addresses competition issues for the European Economic Area (EEA), said the two companies would have to divest most of Allergan’s generics business in the UK and Irish regions which would involve marketed products, products in the pipeline and a manufacturing plant in Barnstaple in UK.
Teva would also have to divest its portfolio of marketed molecules and those in the pipeline in Iceland, the ruling said.
Last month, the US-based Federal Trade Commission said Teva had found 11 buyers for its basket of over 70 products for the US region. The buyers included Indian firms Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Zydus Cadila, Cipla and Aurobindo Pharma.
If Aurobindo wins the bid, it would be able to enhance its European presence. In January 2014, Aurobindo acquired the western European business of Actavis.
In March 2015, Temasek-backed Intas acquired Combino Pharm’s hospital business in Spain and Portugal for an undisclosed sum.
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