Until now, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has had only limited presence in the Brazilian market, one of the world's largest markets, but the solution for this may have been found. "Reuters" reports that Teva is one of the companies interested in acquiring Laboratório Teuto|Pfizer, Latin America's largest pharmaceutical plant, which is a joint venture of drug giant Pfizer (40%) and the Brazilian Melo family (60%). Teva is not the only bidder - according to "Reuters", Mylan N.V. (Nasdaq: MYL; TASE: MYL) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. are also interested. Mylan, like Teva is dual-listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and Wall Street; Sun also has an Israeli connection, after acquiring Haifa-based company Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TARO).
According to the report, the Teuto|Pfizer partners agreed on the sale and employed an investment banker; none of the relevant parties commented on the "Reuters" report, other than Teva, which said it would not comment on market rumors. Pfizer acquired its stake in the venture six years ago, for $240 million.
Brazil is the largest generic drug market in Latin America, followed by the Mexican market, where Teva recently acquired Rimsa for $2.3 billion. "Reuters" reported that in 2015, the Brazilian market grew by 10%, slowing from a 15% percent in 2014.
Teva has recently completed a massive raise of $20.4 billion in debt capital, aimed at financing the acquisition of Allergan's generic division the largest deal in Teva's history (nearing $40 billion), which still awaits the approval of US regulators.
Teva is managed by CEO Erez Vigodman, traded in the Tel Aviv and New York stock exchanges and has a market cap of $49.6 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 27, 2016
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