Pfizer Animal Health has agreed to acquire CSL Animal Health, a division of CSL Limited (Melbourne, Australia), for US$126.2 million in cash, Pfizer announced.
The acquisition will enhance Pfizer Animal Health's presence in the Australian marketplace with CSL's well-received line of livestock and companion animal vaccines, its highly professional sales force, and advanced manufacturing facilities in Australia and New Zealand.
CSL Animal Health has also built a strong, productive research initiative in Australia. With the largest annual investment in animal health research in the industry, Pfizer expects to further develop CSL's R&D activity, which, to date, has yielded advances including the broadest range of sheep vaccines.
In 2002, CSL Animal Health sales increased 6 per cent to $46 million. Through the third quarter of 2003, Pfizer Animal Health, which combined with Pharmacia Animal Health in April 2003, reported sales of $1.09 billion.
"Until now, Pfizer Animal Health has been a mid-tier participant in the important Australian market," said Pedro Lichtinger, president, Pfizer Animal Health. "The acquisition of CSL Animal Health, transforms Pfizer into a leader in Australia. With our complementary product portfolios and organizations, we are confident that we are now well positioned to grow aggressively in both Australia and New Zealand."
"CSL's current product line augments Pfizer's extensive portfolio with innovative vaccines available in Australia," Lichtinger said. He added, "CSL Animal Health has won special recognition for its development of immunosterilization vaccines, such as Improvac, an alternative to surgical castration to control boar taint, which causes offensive smell and taste in some male swine; and Equity, for the control of estrus in non-breeding horses. "Our eventual goal is to take these technologies worldwide."
Looking to the future, Ramón Fuenmayor, area president, Asia/Latin America region, Pfizer Animal Health, said: "While we plan to leverage CSL's superb sales and marketing capabilities to heighten our position in Australia, our future depends directly on the continuing introduction of new value-added products. CSL's research capabilities here in Australia and its promising R&D pipeline were key drivers of this acquisition."
Lichtinger noted that CSL Animal Health's US division-Biocor in Omaha, Nebraska-gives Pfizer a manufacturing facility that meets global GMP standards and it can consolidate its existing alliance to market CSL's Spirovac, the leading vaccine to stop Leptospira hardjo, a common infection that seriously harms the reproductive capacity of dairy cows. "Given our success to date with Spirovac, we will look to the Biocor organization to help us accelerate the introduction of line extensions," Lichtinger said.
The transaction is subject to the necessary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2004.