Aspen sells its nutritionals business to Lactalis

Aspen Pharmacare, a leading global pharmaceutical company has announced that it has concluded an agreement to divest its global Nutritional Business to the Lactalis Group, a leading multinational dairy corporation based in Laval, France for a fully-funded cash consideration of EUR 739.8 million.

Stephen Saad, Aspen Group Chief Executive said, “We are pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed to divest of our Nutritionals Business to French-based Lactalis Group, a leading multinational dairy corporation, for Euro 740 million (R12.9 billion at current exchange rates). The disposal is in line with our strategic intention to focus our attention on our core pharmaceutical business which includes the Anaesthetics, Thrombosis and High Potency & Cytotoxic portfolios. The heightened focus is expected to drive increased business efficiency and performance.”

“This year we celebrate 20 years since we listed on the JSE. Over the past two decades we have evolved from being a domestic generics player to a global multi-national focusing on specialised niche products that are complex to manufacture. Generic products contribute less than 15% to the Group’s pharma revenue today and our strategic focus is on building our specialty portfolio.”

The Lactalis Group is a privately owned, global leader in the dairy industry with revenue of EUR 18.4 billion, sales in over 200 countries, approximately 80 000 employees and 246 industrial plants in 47 different countries. Lactalis’ strategic intent is to develop a global infant nutritional business to complement their existing global product range. The transaction is considered to be a compelling opportunity for both the transferring Aspen employees as well as the shareholders of both Aspen and Lactalis.

In terms of the Transaction, the disposal of the Nutritionals Business will comprise the following elements:

• Intellectual property and any related goodwill presently owned by Aspen Holdings and Pharmacare Limited in respect of the South African and Sub-Saharan Africa Nutritionals Businesses; and Aspen Global Incorporated in respect of the Latin American and Asia Pacific Nutritionals Businesses;
• Tangible assets (including plant, leased immovable property, equipment, associated fixed assets and inventory) presently owned by various Aspen Group companies in respect of the South African, SubSaharan Africa and Latin American Nutritionals Businesses;
• Product registrations and retail registrations regarding Aspen’s nutritional products;
• Shares in companies conducting Aspen’s Nutritional Business across Asia Pacific (including the acquisition of shares held by joint venture partners in New Zealand and Hong Kong); and
• Transfer of dedicated Nutritionals staff employed within each of the geographical regions.