Unimark Remedies Ltd (Unimark), India’s leading manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and API intermediates recently informed that Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma) has agreed to acquire a minority interest in Unimark through the subscription of new equity for a cash consideration of $33.3 million.

The transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent and is expected to close in mid-May. It will be funded by a combination of cash and existing debt financing. KPMG India acted as Unimark’s sole financial adviser on the transaction and Yes Bank acted as Hikma's sole financial adviser on the transaction.

Commenting on the transaction, Mehul Parekh, managing director, Unimark said, “This partnership reaffirms Unimark’s strong capabilities in both the development and manufacturing of APIs and its growing presence in formulations for both emerging and developed markets. Hikma is amongst the world’s leading generic companies with a strong presence in the MENA, US and European markets. We look forward to working with Hikma to nurture a mutually beneficial and long term partnership."

Unimark’s broad product range includes betalactams, cephalosporins, carbapenems and covers a number of therapeutic segments including cardiovascular, anti-asthma and anti-infectives. Unimark operates three API facilities, two of which are US FDA approved, and two R&D centres, all of which are in India.

Commenting on the transaction, Darwazah, CEO, Hikma said, “Through this strategic partnership, Hikma and Unimark will collaborate on the development of strategic APIs and ANDAs. Unimark’s strong technical and R&D capabilities will complement Hikma’s in-house R&D efforts and are expected to enable Hikma to bring more products in more therapeutic categories to market globally. Unimark has an excellent reputation for quality and we look forward to working with their experienced management and operational teams.”