Elder Pharmaceuticals today said it had increased its stake in Bulgarian subsidiary Elder Biomeda AD to 61 per cent from the present 51 per cent, as part of its strategy to strengthen its presence in the European market.
The Rs 600-crore turnover Elder Pharma did not disclose the deal size. In April 2008, Elder had formed Biomeda AD in Bulgaria, to acquire three Bulgarian healthcare companies belonging to the local Biomeda group. The original owners of Biomeda Group companies were in exchange given 49 per cent shares of Elder Biomeda AD at that time.
“This shall be our strategic gateway to the European Union (EU) and CIS markets, as Bulgaria offers low infrastructure costs compared with other EU countries,” said Alok Saxena, director-international, Elder Pharmaceuticals.
Of the three companies, one has a manufacturing unit for formulations, another a distribution company for pharmaceutical and allied products and the third is a logistics company with strategically located warehouses.
Elder’s seven manufacturing units in India will also offer its nutraceutical product range internationally through these acquired companies. Biomeda group is among the top 10 distributors and manufacturers of oral dosage pharmaceutical formulations in Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian entities would launch many products in the next eight-10 months in that region, said Alok Saxena.
