Ranbaxy Laboratories has acquired a generics company Ethimed NV in Belgium. This was announced in a release issued by Ranbaxy to the BSE today.Peter Burema, president (Europe, CIS, Africa & Latin America) of Ranbaxy, said: "Ethimed offers Ranbaxy a ready and robust distribution network to exploit new product opportunities in the future. It also provides the company a strong base from where we can manage and expand our operations in the Benelux countries. We see this acquisition as strategic to our business in Europe."The Belgium market is largely a branded, high priced market with increasing generic penetration. The acquisition positions the company favorably to capture a significant position of this expanding market, the release added.The stock was up over 9% (Rs 37) at Rs 449 on the BSE today.