Cipla subsidiary to acquire South Africa’s Actor Pharma

Cipla’s South African subsidiary has entered into a pact to acquire Acrot Pharma. The pharma major, in a filing to the stock exchanges on Monday, said that Cipla South Africa, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has signed a binding term sheet with Actor Holdings (Pty) Ltd to acquire 100 per cent of the issued ordinary shares.

Actor Pharma, founded in 2009, is the 5th largest privately owned over the counter (OTC) player in the South African private market. Actor Pharma specialises in generic medicine and OTC and has built a strong customer base.

Cipla said that this is a strategic acquisition undertaken to unlock growth opportunities in the South African pharmaceutical market. Moreover, Cipla CEO Umang Vohra stated that the deal is a part of the company’s objective to strengthen its OTC and wellness portfolio.

“This is in line with our strategy of strengthening our OTC and wellness portfolio. We believe this is an excellent opportunity to leverage our existing marketing capabilities, unlock future growth opportunities and optimise the performance of our pipeline,” Umang Vohra, Global MD and CEO, Cipla Limited, said,

Cipla South Africa also aims to utilise cost synergies in the domain for its advantages. However, currently, financial terms of the agreement have not been made public.

Cipla share price

After the announcement by Cipla to acquire Actor Pharma, shares of the company gained 2 per cent in morning trade on Tuesday to hit a high of Rs 1,265 apiece on BSE. However the pharma stock pared its early gains and traded flat at Rs 1,237.85 apiece, down 0.08 per cent, at 12:39 PM.

The stock has gained 2.22 per cent in the past month and 26 per cent in the past three months. In the last one year period the stock has gained more than 20 per cent.