Stada to re-enforce position on Russian market with 125M-euro buy of MAKIZ

German generics group Stada Arzneimittel has made a significant advance into the Russian pharmaceuticals market with the acquisition, via a contract on the purchase of respectively 100% of the shares in the companies ZAO MAKIZ-Pharma, ZAO Skopinpharm and ZAO Biodyne Pharmaceuticals, which was concluded by its Russian subsidiary Nizhpharm OAO, Nizhny Novgorod. The sellers are several private investor companies.

Stada notes that the staggered purchase price, which partly depends on the Russian firm's results for the current fiscal year, is expected to amount to a total of about 125.0 million euros ($171.0 million) less net debt of the group at closing, but will not exceed 135.0 million euros.

In 2006, the MAKIZ group was one of the fastest-growing suppliers in the Russian pharmaceutical market. With a growth rate of more than 95% in local currency, or in euros of over 102% compared to the previous year, the group achieved sales of 1.76 billion roubles ($68.7 million) in 2006; net profits was 41.9 million roubles, a 98% increase compared to the 2005 results, said Stada. For 2007, a further slight sales growth of the MAKIZ group is expected, despite current significant changes in the market and customer structure.