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INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - November 16th December 31st 2008
PIRAMAL HEALTHCARE BUYS US-BASED MINRAD INTERNATIONAL FOR $40 M
HEALTHCARE major Piramal Healthcare (PHL) has acquired US-based pharma firm Minrad International for $40 million. The move is expected to help PHL get an immediate access into the US market for sevoflurane, the largest selling inhalation anaesthetic in the US.
PHL had a distribution and marketing agreement with the US based Minrad Inc for the domestic and international markets. Minrad will merge with a newly incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary of Piramal. Once the merger is completed, stockholders of Minrad will receive $0.12 per share in cash. As part of the agreement, Piramal will acquire Minrad’s 8% Senior Secured Convertible Notes from the note holders. The total consideration for the merger and acquisition of the notes, in cash plus debt, will be approximately $40 million.
Piramal will also extend a senior secured loan of $12 million to Minrad as working capital during the period preceding the closing of the merger. Ajay Piramal, chairman, Piramal Group said, “The offer to Minrad is consistent with our commitment to build a serious global presence in critical care. The strategic combination will give Piramal access to key intellectual property for the manufacture of inhalation anaesthetics, including process-based intellectual property for both sevoflurane and desflurane,”.
Piramal is a leading producer of halothane and isoflurane while Minrad’s product portfolio of inhalation anaesthetics consists of isoflurane, enflurane and sevoflurane. In addition, Minrad has filed an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for desflurane with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Upon completion of the merger, the combined company will have a marketing and sales network across 108 countries with 178 distributors, capable of supplying anaesthetic products to supply chain vendors and end users, a company statement said.
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