As part of its strategy to solely focus on
specialty chemicals,
Degussa AG of Duesseldorf
has sold its pharmaceutical affiliates AWD.pharma GmbH & Co. KG and AWD.pharma
Beteiligungs-GmbH (together, “AWD.pharma”) of Dresden to PLIVA d.d. of Zagreb/Croatia
for EUR 50 million. The transaction is still contingent on the approval of the German Cartel
Office, but is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2001. AWD.pharma was
formed out of Arzneimittelwerk Dresden GmbH (AWD) and alongside
oncology, Health
Products and
Zentaris is one of the main business areas of the
Degussa subsidiary ASTA
Medica.
Prof. Dr. Utz-Hellmuth Felcht, Management Board Chairman of Degussa: "The
restructuring
of ASTA Medica into four individual projects last year is now bearing fruit. In addition to the
divestment of Zentaris as part of the latter's IPO, AWD.pharma will be the second ASTA
Medica business area to be sold. It is also a further example of the new Degussa's
consistent and swift focus on
specialty chemicals. Having sold dmc², Phenolchemie and the
Dental business, the divestment of the whole of ASTA Medica is well on its way, and we
hope we will more or less complete this project by the end of the year."
The
divestments of Zentaris and AWD.pharma mean that the new Degussa will have sold
within a mere four months the equivalent of more than 70 percent of approximately EUR 6.5
billion, the total turnover of the operations from which it is parting company as part of its
focusing strategy.
Ideal complement in product range and regional presence
Joining forces with the powerful and successful PLIVA provides AWD.pharma with ideal
prerequisites to continue the pursuit of its growth strategy in future. Moreover, both
corporations complement each other ideally in terms of product range and in a regional
sense. The AWD.pharma purchase will strengthen PLIVA in the area of generic
pharmaceuticals and also represents a further important step in its internationalization
strategy. The Croatian corporation recently made
acquisitions in
France and the United
Kingdom to position itself for expansion into Western European markets and operates an
extremely strong research and development platform.
After the
restructuring of ASTA Medica, AWD.pharma re-entered the German, Central and
Eastern European markets as a branded
generics undertaking with about 665 employees
and pro forma
sales amounting to approximately EUR 120 million in fiscal 2000. The
company
concentrates on developing, producing,
marketing and distributing generic
pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cardiovascular conditions, illnesses of the central
nervous system and
pain.