Eurofarma negotiates acquisition of Segmenta
Valor Econômico
Eurofarma, one of the largest national pharmaceuticals, is negotiating the purchase of Segmenta, a laboratory specialized in hospital serum, headquartered in Ribeirão Preto (SP). The transaction details were being outlined yesterday and we expect the acquisition be announced today. With the wrapping up of that deal, Eurofarma enters the market of hospital serum, an area in which the national laboratory still has no participation. The company already operates in the hospital segment, with the supply of injectable medications. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. Sources of the sector say, however, that the purchase should not come out for less than R$ 400 million (US$ 235.3 million). Asked about it, Eurofarma makes no comments and Segmenta has not returned the requests for an interview.
With earnings around R$ 1.2 billion (US$ 609 million) in 2009, the expectation is that Eurofarma ends this year with earnings between R$ 1.3 billion (US$ 764.7 million) and R$ 1.4 billion (US$ 823.5 million). The national pharmaceutical has outlined as strategy acquisitions inside the country and abroad to expand their businesses. This year, the company ended an important partnership with Pfizer to produce the generic version of Lipitor (a medication to fight high cholesterol). That drug, leader in the world, with annual earnings of nearly US$ 13 billion, had its patent expired in Brazil this year.
The purchase of Segmenta, whose earnings are estimated at R$ 200 million (US$ 117.6 million) for 2010, intensifies the operations of Eurofarma in the area of hospital serum. The Ribeirão Preto-based laboratory integrated the assets that stayed out of the pharmaceutical company Biosintética, sold in 2005 to the Aché group. After a strong restructure, Segmenta decided to place its bets on serum hospital, a growing segment in the country that generates nearly R$ 1.2 billion (US$ 705.9 million) a year, and operates in the sector of sanitizing products (hospital asepsis).
In a recent interview to Valor, Visconde said the company intended to make acquisitions still this year in the area of sanitizing products to expand its operations in South and Southeast of the country. Sources of the sector said, however, the fat offer of Eurofarma to acquire 100% of the control of the company put to the ground the intentions of growth of the laboratory of the interior of São Paulo.