Cipla, the fifth largest Indian pharma company with net sales of Rs. 8,000 crore plus, has received final approval from South African authorities to acquire Cipla Medpro today. Earlier, Cipla announced an offer to the shareholders of Cipla Medpro South Africa Ltd. (Medpro) to acquire 100 per cent of the ordinary share capital of Medpro for ZAR 10.0 per share. The total consideration payable by Cipla is approximately USD 512 million or ZAR 4.5 billion.
Cipla Medpro is one of South Africa's fastest growing pharmaceutical companies. The third largest pharmaceutical firm in SA, it is a leading provider of chronic medicines to the public and private sectors, with particular strength within, inter alia, the cardiovascular, antiretroviral (ARV), respiratory and neuropsychiatric categories. Medpro has two distribution centres in Cape Town, one in Durbanville and one in Atlas Gardens.
South Africa is an attractive emerging market with strong projected growth for generic drugs of approximately 14 per cent per year for the next several years. This investment is aligned with Cipla’s strategy to ascend the value chain by managing a front end sales force in a market outside India. Cipla and Medpro have enjoyed a long standing symbiotic relationship spanning two decades. The deal enables Cipla to strengthen Medpro’s position in the South African pharmaceutical market, support the optimisation of Medpro’s manufacturing capability and support Medpro's expansion into collaboratively identified Arican markets.