Abbott Laboratories Completes Purchase of Russian Drug Company

Abbott Laboratories said it completed its $305 million acquisition of Veropharm, a leading Russian pharmaceutical company.

The deal gives Abbott access to a portfolio of about 100 medicines that specialize in central nervous system, cardiovascular and intestinal diseases, made at three sites across Russia.

Abbott said in June it had reached a deal to buy Veropharm’s holding company, Garden Hills, for $395 million to $495 million cash, plus assumption of about $136 million in debt. The final transaction price was determined by the percentage of Veropharm shares Garden Hills owned at the time of Abbott’s purchase.

The medical products company said it funded the transaction with cash, and expects the Russian arm to add about $150 million in sales in 2015.

In a bigger deal to satisfy its appetite for a stake in emerging markets, Abbott earlier this year acquired a Chilean generic pharmaceutical company. The purchase of CFR Pharmaceuticals closed in the third quarter for about $2.9 billion, plus assumption of about $430 million in debt.

Abbott, which spun off proprietary pharmaceuticals arm AbbVie in 2013, said it will also look to sell its European generic drugs business early next year.

This article appeared in print in the December 15th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.