Acquisition will augment expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals is to buy Lithuanian specialty pharmaceuticals firm Sanitas for €314 million (about $446 million) in cash, plus another €50 million ($71 million) in the settlement of assumed debt. Sanitas’ major stakeholders have already agreed to sell 87.2% of the firm’s outstanding shares to Valeant. Once these have been secured, Valeant will commence a mandatory tender offer to acquire the remaining minority interest in Sanitas.

Sanitas has a broad branded generics portfolio comprising 390 products sold in nine countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe, Valeant says. The firm in addition has in-house development capabilities in dermatology, ophthalmology, and hospital injectables, together with a pipeline of internally developed and acquired products. Sanitas is expected to achieve over €100 million ($142 million) in revenues during 2011, and a low double-digit growth rate over the coming years.

“The acquisition of Sanitas should provide Valeant with an exciting opportunity to expand our European branded generics product portfolio with dermatology and hospital injectable compounds that have a strong track record of growth and profitability,” comments J. Michael Pearson, chairman and CEO. “With 80% of the Sanitas portfolio consisting of nonreimbursed products with limited exposure to government pricing pressures, Valeant will be in a key position to continue our expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.”

In February Valeant acquired Switzerland-based generics and OTC drug firm PharmaSwiss for €350 million (about $475 million). PharmaSwiss has operations in 19 countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in Greece and Israel.

Previous articleAbcam Completes $6M Takeover of Mitochondrial Research Tools Specialist MitoSciences
Next articleRadius Raises $91M for Pivotal Osteoporosis Trial and Inks Transdermal Patch Deal with 3M