Teva has followed through on a pledge to sell off various assets in the UK and Ireland following its $40bn takeover of Actavis Generics, which closed in August.
Under the terms of the deal, a chunk of Actavis‘ operations in the UK and Ireland will be sold to Accord Healthcare, a subsidiary of Indian generics firm Intas Pharmaceuticals, for £603m (around $770m).
Accord will claim ownership of a portfolio of generic drugs as well as a manufacturing facility in Barnstaple, which will become privately-held Intas’ fourth UK site. The Indian company said the acquisition – which is valued at 2.4 times revenues – will double its European sales to more than $500m.
“This transaction represents a unique opportunity for Intas to build scale in the UK and Ireland – adding to our market leading hospital franchise – and creates a strong platform for further European expansion,” said Binish Chudgar, vice chairman and managing director of Intas.
He also said the company has “a clear plan for the continuation and development of the Barnstaple site and the Actavis UK and Ireland team”.
In the weeks leading up to the sale, generic drugmaker Aurobindo and private equity firms Cinven and Apollo Global Management were reported as being in negotiations over the purchase. The final purchase price is considerably lower than earlier rumours that offers of up to $1bn were on the table.
The deal aims to meet conditions laid down by the European Commission during its review of the acquisition of Actavis from Allergan, intended to avoid unfair competition in the market. The EC still has to approve the divestment.
“We have satisfied the European Commission’s sale requirements for these businesses, subject to their final approval, and agreed on a good price for the assets,” said Teva president and chief executive for global generic medicines Siggi Olafsson. The deal is due to close within the next three months.
Offloading Actavis Generics UK and Irish assets is the latest in a series of divestments by Teva to meet antitrust conditions from international regulatory authorities and rationalise its business as the Actavis Generics deal came to fruition.
In the US, the Federal Trade Commission said Teva had to divest 79 generic products, which were sold off to 11 separate companies in a series of transactions.