India's Strides Shasun has been expanding and will add a seventh manufacturing site to its operations in Africa after buying controlling interest in a Kenyan drug producer.
Strides has struck a deal that could reach $14 million to buy a 51% stake in Kenya's Universal Corp., according to a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange. That includes $11 million upfront and up to $3 million in milestone payments for the African pharma.
The manufacturing facility it gets as part of the deal is one of the two sites in sub-Saharan Africa that are prequalified by the World Health Organization to manufacture drugs, the Economic Times reports. Universal has contracts with donor agencies to supply meds in East Africa, the newspaper reports.
The Indian company also bought controlling interest in Australia-based Generic Partners, but its financial filing provided no details about that transaction, other than that Generic Partners has 22 approved generic products and 32 in its pipeline. Strides, which merged with Shasun Pharma last year, returned to the Australian market in 2015 with the acquisition of Aspen Pharmacare's Australia operations in a $287 million deal. The former Strides Arcolab had been out of that market after selling off some assets in 2012.
- read the Economic Times story
- here is the Generics Partners announcement