Glenmark buys out Argentine marketing firm

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, the Swiss-based subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, has acquired an Argentine pharma marketing company -Servycal SA, for an undisclosed valuation.

The all-cash deal, funded through internal accruals of the Swiss subsidary, marks the direct entry of an Indian pharmaceutical company for the first time in Argentina.

Servycal, with a focused oncology portfolio, will enable Glenmark to expand its geographical scope and breadth of product offerings in the fast growing South American pharmaceutical markets.

The company owns a basket of seventeen approved product registrations with an additional three products pending registration.

Apart from Argentina, Servycal's products are registered in 12 other South American country markets as well. The company is a marketing entity with a strong retail and hospital presence in Argentina. Servycal is expected to close FY 2005-06 with sales revenue of USD 4 million and a net profit of about 10 per cent.

Glenmark managing director and chief executive officer Glenn Saldanha said that acquisition of a front-end company in the key geographies such as Argentina, is part of Glenmark's long term plan to emerge as a speciality company marketing novel drugs in markets outside the USA, the EU and Japan.

"A detailed plan to derive synergies from the acquisition in the near term has been developed and includes leveraging Servycal's product portfolio across our other country markets, both within and outside South America," Saldanha added.