Chilean pharmaceutical CFR International SPA has acquired a stake in Domesco Medical Import-Export Co (DMC), making it the first foreign strategic partner of a domestic drug maker.
"This deal has been the most successful in the sector, since cooperation involving foreign factors has normally been difficult to implement in the pharmaceutical industry," said the head of financial consultancy for HCM City Securities Co, Trinh Thanh Can, in an interview with the publication Nhip cau dau tu (Bridge for Investment).
The deal also represents a new trend in M&A in which a group of fund shareholders offer to sell their stakes in a company to a foreign strategic investor. Last year, the Chilean producer purchased around 40 percent of Domesco held by five different investment funds. The value of the acquisition was 302 billion VND (14.3 million USD), equivalent to 40,000 VND per share (1.90 USD) and nearly double the shares' actual price on the market at the time.
After reaching some other agreements with Domesco, CFR then increased its stake in the company to around 46 percent.
Despite the potential of the nation's pharmaceutical market, prior merger and acquisition deals in the sector that involved foreign investors have fallen through.-VNA