Bulgaria's pharmaceuticals producer Sopharma has signed a contract for the acquisition of Serbian peer Pharmanova. In a statement to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, where it is listed, Sopharma said it would initially acquire 25% of the company, then purchase 50% in a year's time and the remaining 25% would be bought within two years.
The transaction is subject to approval by the Serbian competition authority. This is not expected to be an obstacle, as a year ago Sopharma exited another investment there, selling a stake in Ivancic & Sons. Currently the Bulgarian company is only present on the Serbian market through its distributor, Sopharma Trading.
The Serbian producer
The price of the deal was not disclosed. Sopharma only said Pharmanova generated net sales of over 10.2 million euro in 2022. That is only a portion of Sopharma's own consolidated revenue, which amounted to nearly 1.68 billion levs (approximately 840 million euro). The portfolio of the Serbian company comprises more than 30 drugs, dietary supplements, ointments and other medicinal products.
Its markets include Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The company was founded in 1991 and its production facilities are located in the town of Obrenovac, near the Serbian capital Belgrade.
The buyer
The Bulgarian pharmaceuticals giant earlier reported a drop in profit to 72.6 million levs (on a consolidated basis) in 2022, from 89.5 million levs in 2021. Sales revenue, however, increased slightly. The company held about 2.5% of the Bulgarian pharmaceuticals market in terms of value as of end-2022.
For the first quarter of 2023 Sopharma generated sales revenue of more than 500 million levs, as well as a net profit of some 33 million levs. As of the end of March the company had just 16 million levs in cash. Its short-term assets amounted to some 600 million levs, with inventories accounting for almost 50% of them.
Bulgaria's pharmaceuticals producer Sopharma has signed a contract for the acquisition of Serbian peer Pharmanova. In a statement to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, where it is listed, Sopharma said it would initially acquire 25% of the company, then purchase 50% in a year's time and the remaining 25% would be bought within two years.
The transaction is subject to approval by the Serbian competition authority. This is not expected to be an obstacle, as a year ago Sopharma exited another investment there, selling a stake in Ivancic & Sons. Currently the Bulgarian company is only present on the Serbian market through its distributor, Sopharma Trading.
