The purchase of the Asia Pacific company is estimated to range between $440 million and $770 million. For now, however, no Stock Exchange.
FLORENCE – Menarini, one of the few remaining Italian pharmaceutical companies together with Sigma Tau of Pomezia, despite the crisis scores one of the largest acquisitions in the group's 125-year history.
The company has in fact acquired the 100% of the Invida group, one of the main pharmaceutical companies in the Asia Pacific area, operating in Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan , Thailand and Vietnam. The group, with 3,500 employees, a turnover of over 220 billion dollars, represents 10% of the world pharmaceutical market and has a growth rate of 20% annually. The Menarini top management did not disclose the amount of the transaction (however it is known that the payment took place 'cash' last Friday) but it should be between 440 and 770 million dollars, 2-3.5 times the turnover.
"The goal for Invida - explains Lucia Aleotti, vice president of the group - is to reach 1 billion dollars in turnover in 2015, equal to approximately 20-25% of the total of the Italian pharmaceutical company".
“It was a demanding negotiation – explains Alberto Giovanni Aleotti – which has seen us totally dedicated in recent months. In Singapore, the ferment of all the countries in the area is perceived and the 'concentration' of the best skills is gathered, also thanks to the farsighted policies of the government”. Invida also has a small production plant in Singapore, but for Menarini it will above all constitute the "gateway to the South Pacific" of Italian products, in particular as regards drugs for cardiovascular diseases, antibiotics, painkillers, antirheumatics.
The Menarini factories produce 600 million pieces every year and new hires in Italy will also result from this acquisition, explained the general manager, Domenico Simone. In the future, Menarini also plans new acquisitions: "We have liquidity to seize opportunities," explained Lucia Aleotti. In particular, the focus is open to South America.
However, the Italian pharmaceutical company is not aiming for the stock market: "If we need it for growth, no one rules out anything but at the moment it is not in our attention", explains the vice president Lucia Aleotti. "The Stock Exchange is not an option for us because you go to the Stock Exchange either to monetize or because you are looking for resources to take an important step; we believe it
