The South African firm Aspen Pharmacare (APNJ.J.) said on Monday that it has entered into a contract to acquire the Chinese business of the Swiss group Sandoz (SDZ.S.) for a possibility of up to 92.6 million euros ($100.6 million). This would allow Aspen Pharmacare to extend its operations in China even further.
As part of the transaction, Aspen Global Incorporated, a subsidiary of Aspen, will also acquire the marketing and intellectual property rights to a portfolio of well-known pharmaceuticals. These drugs include Sandostatin, Aclasta, and Voriconazole, among others.
A pipeline of goods that Sandoz China plans to introduce in the short to medium term will also be covered by the rights when they are acquired.
The proposed transaction “represents an attractive opportunity for Aspen to take a major step in its stated objective of increasing its presence in China,” according to the organization.
According to Aspen, the company has said that it will pay up to 92.6 million euros, with 18.5 million euros being reliant upon the sales success of the items that are now in flux. Existing lending facilities will finance the net upfront cash the pharmaceutical behemoth will need.
In addition, Aspen will turn over to Sandoz the commercialization rights and intellectual property associated with four anesthetic drugs that Aspen is presently selling inside the European Economic Area.
It is expected to collect up to 55.5 million euros for disposal, with 9.3 million euros being contingent on the sales performance of its anesthetic drugs, which include Nimbex, Tracrium, Carbocaine, and Naropin.
“The disposal will allow Aspen’s European management to adopt a more focused approach to its remaining anaesthetic products in the region,” according to the company.
In addition, the company stated that the pharmaceuticals it is marketing “will be complementary to Sandoz’s existing pharmaceutical offering in Europe, where it has significant scale and is well positioned to leverage their potential.”
Compared to the sales of anesthetic goods during Aspen’s fiscal year that ended on June 30th, which were around 280 million rand, Aspen aims to add approximately 1.8 billion rand ($96.23 million) in annual revenues to the company from the Chinese market.
