Pharmaceutical company SeQuent Scientific Ltd said its subsidiary Alivira Animal Health Ltd will acquire a majority stake in Spanish animal health firm Karizoo Group for Є7.4 million (Rs 55 crore), as the Indian company seeks to expand its presence in the global animal health space.
The acquisition comes just six weeks after SeQuent said Alivira will acquire a 70 per cent stake in veterinary products maker Interchange Brazil for $3.6 million in cash.
As part of the latest transaction, Alivira will acquire 60% stake in the family held Vila Vina Particpacions, which owns Karizoo Spain, Phytosolutions Spain, Covivet Spain and Karizoo Mexico, while the remaining stake will be held by the promoters, SeQuent said in a statement filed with the stock exchanges.
With the recent transaction, Alivira will account for over two-thirds of SeQuent’s revenues, the statement added.
The acquisition will be made through Alivira Ireland, a wholly owned subsidiary of the firm. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be closed by July 2016.
Karizoo Group, which was established by Vila family in 1983, achieved net sales of Є29.1 million in 2015 with an adjusted EBITDA of Є2.2 million, the statement said. It has presence across 14 countries, including Spain, Poland, Germany, the UK, Mexico and Iran.
Europe is the world’s second-largest animal health market and was estimated at $9.6 billion in 2015. It is expected to touch $12.2 billion by 2020, the statement said.
"Karizoo brings into Alivira an EU approved manufacturing base and strong R&D capabilities, which we intend to leverage for our global operations," said Manish Gupta, managing director of Alivira.
Mumbai-based SeQuent has nine manufacturing facilities in India and Turkey. The company makes bulk drugs and formulations in the animal health segment and offers niche human health and analytical services. It operates its animal health business through Alivira, which has close to 200 dosage forms.
In the animal health segment, drugmaker Cadila Healthcare Ltd acquired some veterinary product brands and manufacturing operations at Haridwar in Uttarakhand from US animal health company Zoetis Inc in January.
Last year, Novartis India completed a transaction to sell its animal health business to Elanco India, an affiliate of Eli Lilly. In April 2014, Novartis had agreed to sell its global animal health business to Eli Lilly and Co for about $5.4 billion.
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