Sources inform “Globes” that Promedico and NeoPharm Medical Supplies, which market and distribute drugs, are negotiating a merger.
Promedico’s owners have recently been considering the recruitment of a partner, and have also been checking into a merger with NeoPharm. If a merger takes place, it will be a share swap, and company evaluators have not been appointed for that reason.
Adv. Zvi Yochman of the Itzhak Swary Ltd. law firm is handling the negotiations on behalf of Promedico. The proposed merger is designed to reinforce the two companies’ distribution network, and yield economies of scale.
Promedico, owned by brothers Benjamin and Michael Jesselson, markets the products of baby food manufacturer Similac, dialysis products, inoculations, and solutions manufactured at its plant in Migdal Ha’emek.
Promedico formerly had marketing agreements with pharmaceutical giant Ciba Geigy Corp. and manufacturer Novartis Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: NVS; LSE: NOV; SWX: NOVZ). A dispute between Promedico and Novartis developed a year ago, as a result of which liens amounting to tens of millions of shekels were placed on Promedico, at Novartis’s request.
The Jesselson family is one of the founders of Elite Industries. Six years ago, the Jesselson brothers sold most of their holdings in Elite to Michael Strauss for NIS 40 million.
NeoPharm, controlled by David Fuhrer, distributes over-the-counter drugs. Among other things, it markets the Centrum line of products. The company’s 2003 turnover was $40-50 million.
Forer and the Jesselsons denied that their companies were negotiating a merger.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on September 14, 2004