Marksans to acquire UK's Bell & Co

Mumbai-based Marksans Pharma is acquiring UK's pharmaceutical company Bell, Sons & Co (Druggists), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hale Group PLC, UK, for an estimated $20-30 million.

Marksans is entering into a share purchase agreement with Hale Group PLC to acquire its entire share capital along with Bell, Sons & Co.

The acquisition will be done through Marksan's subsidiary, Marksans Pharma UK Ltd, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

Marksans Pharma executives would not comment on the deal, saying it will be concluded late tonight India time. The company's managing director, Mark Saldanha, was not available for comment.

Mark is the brother of Glenn Saldanha, managing director of Glenmark, one of the country's largest research based pharmaceutical companies.

The acquisition will provide the Rs 250 crore Marksans an entry into the branded product category in Europe. The UK is a major market for the company, which gets more than 70 per cent of its export turnover from that country and surrounding markets.

Marksans had acquired Australia's Nova Pharmaceuticals, a generics company with a turnover of $10 million in March last year.

Sources said Bell & Co has a factory in Southport that is licensed by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (UK MHRA) to manufacture liquid drugs, ointments and powder products.

The products are distributed across UK and exported to Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. Bell & Co is also into contract manufacturing and produces private-label products for a number of major customers.

Bell is mainly into the manufacture of over-the-counter products such as analgesics, antiseptic disinfectants, cough and cold products, creams, ointments and oils.

Marksans Pharma is one of the largest producers of such antibiotics as ciprofloxacin and ranitidine in India. The company focuses on cardiovasculars, anti-diabetics and neurosciences.