Nicholas Piramal India Ltd said on Thursday its UK subsidiary has entered into an agreement to acquire the manufacturing facility of global pharma company Pfizer Inc at Morpeth, UK, on an asset purchase basis.
The deal includes a supply agreement till November 2011, totalling potential revenues of above $350 million, site fixed assets and property and certain net current assets, Nicholas Piramal informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The transaction is on a liability and cash free basis and completion is subject to required regulatory and other approvals, expected by June 19. However, the company did not disclose the financial details of the agreement.
The Morpeth unit is one of Pfizer's global, integrated facilities with end-to-end production and supply chain capabilities that cover Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, finished dosage, packaging and distribution, it said.
The purchase by the company's subsidiary, NPIL Pharmaceuticals, would expand its global footprint, particularly in the finished Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient, contained finished dosage, packaging and supply chain areas, it added.
The company expects significant synergies of its current operations and business pipeline with Morpeth.
The acquisition is the third by Nicholas Piramal after the acquisition of Rhodia's inhalation anaesthetics business in December 2004 and acquisition of Avecia's custom manufacturing business in December 2005.
"This acquisition demonstrates NPIL's commitment to provide an across-the-life-cycle and across-the-value-chain service to pharmaceutical companies," Chairman Ajay Piramal said.
"We are proud to have the highly respected Morpeth team aboard. Morpeth has a long tradition of excellence in manufacturing and supply chain. We believe we have an exciting future before us, with Morpeth playing a key role in NPIL's global CMO network," Piramal said.
The acquisition of Morpeth is in line with the company's intent to become a global leader in custom manufacturing across the pharmaceutical value chain.
After the completion of the transaction, in annualised terms, the company is expected to have custom manufacturing revenues above $200 million.
The shares of the pharma company was trading at Rs 162.50, up 2.95 per cent at the BSE.
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