Takeover of Teva-Kowa follows recent buyout of Taiyo, another generics firm in the same country.
Teva Pharmaceutical is paying Kowa Company $150 million to acquire the latter’s 50% stake in their Japanese generics joint venture Teva-Kowa Pharma. The acquisition means Teva will own Teva-Kowa outright.
Teva-Kowa was established by its namesakes in September 2008, and has since grown into one of Japan’s top five generics players, with sales of some $200 million in 2010, Teva claims. The firm’s acquisition of the whole business follows from its acquisition in July of Japanese generics firm Taiyo Pharmaceutical, including its R&D team and production facility, for $934 million. Teva says Taiyo is Japan’s third-largest generics business, with sales of some $530 million in 2010 and a portfolio spanning over 550 products.
”We are happy to have reached this agreement to bring all our Japaenese operations under Teva’s full control and ownership,” comments Teva president and CEO Shlomo Yanai. “Full ownership of all our activities including Taiyo will allow us to better grow our business in Japan. With this stronger platform Teva will be in a better position to further druve penetration of high-quality generic pharmaceuticals in Japan.”
