In an apparent bid to boost its Russian and Eastern European footprint, German pharmaceutical company Stada on Tuesday agreed to purchase over-the-counter and prescription drugs units from Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda for $660 million, Reuters reports.
The portfolio includes drugs sold exclusively in Russia, Georgia and a number of countries from within the Commonwealth of Independent States, the companies said.
Takeda is selling the drugs units to slash debt after its $59 billion purchase of biopharmaceutical major Shire earlier this year.
The deal follows Monday’s announcement of Stada’s acquisition of Czech Republic-based Walmark, a consumer health products business serving mainly Eastern Europe.
A source familiar with that transaction said it was worth more than 100 million euros ($111 million). Stada and the owner of Walmark, buyout firm Mid Europa Partners, did not say how much the deal was worth.
Stada, majority owned by buyout firms Bain and Cinven since 2017, sells consumer healthcare products such as painkillers and sunscreen lotions and biosimilar and generic drugs, which are cheaper copies of established pharmaceuticals that have lost patent protection. Its new owners had been widely expected to grow revenues through acquisitions and boost earnings through cost benefits.
Takeda has pledged to dispose of $10 billion worth of non-core assets following the Shire deal, which was the biggest ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company.
