Advent sells Terapia

Advent International has sold its 96.7% stake in Terapia, a Romanian generic pharmaceuticals manufacturer, to India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited for US$324m (€268m.)

The acquisition of Terapia in August 2003 for US$49.3m was the first ever take private LBO in Central Europe. The company floated on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in 1997 following its privatisation, but suffered because of a lack of liquidity on the market. Advent paid US$44m for the shares, and a further US$5.3m to cover deal costs. The company was bought through Advent Central & Eastern Europe II.

Joanna James, managing director for Central Europe at Advent, said “We have been strategic investors in Terapia and it has been our endeavour to add value to the entity at every point in the value chain. With consolidation imminent in the pharmaceutical industry, scale and global presence will be critical. We believe Ranbaxy is best equipped to take the company forward into its next phase of growth.”

Terapia recorded sales of US$74.4m in 2005. It also has a presence outside Romania, with 30% of its product portfolio registered in over 15 countries including the high growth generic markets of Russia, Ukraine and Poland.