Strides buys Aspen's Australia drug assets for A$380 mn

Strides Arcolab today said it will acquire South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare's portfolio of branded and generics products in Australia for about Rs 1,910 crore.
The deal will facilitate re-entry of Strides in the Australian market.
In a BSE filing Strides Arcolab said: "Strides Pharma Global Pte. Ltd and Strides (Australia) Pharma Pty Ltd, Australia, both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Strides Arcolab have signed definitive agreement with certain wholly subsidiaries of Aspen Pharmacare to acquire a generic pharmaceutical business in Australia with certain branded pharmaceutical assets."
It further said: "The consideration for the acquisition will be approximately Australian Dollar 380 million. The acquisition...Include access to the product pipeline that was under development by Aspen and includes a number of major product launches in the next six months."

Strides Arcolab Founder and Group CEO Arun Kumar said: "Aspen's Australian generic pharmaceutical assets are a valuable and unique platform for Strides to rebuild its business in Australia."
The portfolio of Aspen's 130 products in Australia comprises generic pharmaceutical business together with certain branded pharmaceutical assets.

The company said that the acquired products has sales of Australian Dollar 120 million in the fiscal year ended June 2014.
The transaction will be financed by a combination of internal accruals and debt financing. The transaction is expected to close by end of second quarter of 2015-16.
In 2012, Strides Arcolab sold its entire stake in Australian subsidiary Ascent Pharmahealth to Watson Pharmaceuticals for 375 million Australian dollars.

Strides Arcolab said this business will operate under Arrow Pharmaceutical brand.
Shares of Strides Arcolab were trading at Rs 1,098.85 apiece in the afternoon trade, up 0.42 per cent on the BSE.