Perrigo expands consumer health with €3.6bn Omega purchase

Perrigo's range of consumer products

Medicines manufacturing company Perrigo has agreed to acquire consumer healthcare company Omega Pharma for €3.6bn.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015 and a payment from Perrigo to Omega of €2.5bn and the assumption of €1.1bn worth of debt.

It follows Perrigo's acquisition last year of Elan for $8.6bn, which allowed the company to move its base from the US to Ireland, reducing its corporate tax and expanding its global footprint.

Belgium-based Omega has also expanded in recent years purchasing several over-the-counter (OTC) medicines from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 2012, including Lactacyd, Abtei, Solpadeine, Zantac, Nytol and Beconase.

According to a joint statement issued by Perrigo and Omega, combined sales from the two companies over the past month were $5.7bn.
Joseph Papa, CEO of Perrigo, said the deal “accelerates Perrigo's international growth strategy, substantially diversifies our business streams and establishes a durable leadership position in the European OTC marketplace”.

According to Perrigo, the deal will give the company “critical mass in all key European cities” and provide “commercial infrastructure in the high-barrier to entry European OTC marketplace”.

The deal ends speculation about a potential suitor for Omega, which has been linked with the likes of Actavis, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi in recent months.