Interros buying controlling stake in vaccine maker Petrovax Pharm
MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax) - Interros Group is acquiring a controlling interest in LLC NPO Petrovax Pharm, a Russian vaccine maker, the group said in a press release.
The agreement was signed on November 21 in Moscow. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Petrovax Pharm told Interfax that Interros is buying the stake of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as some of the shares of company founders Arkady Nekrasov and Natalya Puchkova, who will continue to be involved in the management of the business.
The SPARK-Interfax database shows that the EBRD owns 25% of Petrovax Pharm and company CEO Nekrasov and his deputy Puchkova own the other 75%.
"Interros Group's strategy is to invest in leading companies in socially significant industries with high growth rates. The NPO Petrovax Pharm acquisition will allow it to develop quality production of unique Russian pharmaceutical innovations on a large scale," Interros chief investment officer Alexei Bashkirov said in the press release.
"NPO Petrovax Pharm entry into the Interros Group opens up wide opportunities to further fundamental research, and to effectively develop and commercialize innovative immunobiologic medicines and vaccines in the Russian healthcare system," Nekrasov was quoted as saying.
It was reported earlier that two other companies were looking to buy Petrovax Pharm - Abbott of the United States and Russia's Pharmstandard.
Abbott signed a purchase-sale agreement with Petrovax Pharm shareholders in the middle of 2012 and in August applied to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) for approval of the deal. But the regulator could not consider the U.S. drug maker's application until the deal was approved by a government commission, because Petrovax Pharm, as a vaccine maker, is considered a strategic company. In mid-April 2013, the government commission prohibited Abbott from buying the Russian company.
Also in April this year, FAS gave Pharmstandard the go-ahead to acquire Petrovax Pharm. The companies held negotiations, but could not reach an agreement. "The terms of the deal with Pharmstandard were not agreed. Pharmstandard will not participate in this deal," Petrovax Pharm told Interfax.
Petrovax Pharm, founded in 1996, develops and manufactures innovative vaccines and drugs. The company has several full-cycle production sites at which it manufactures ingredients and medicines in various forms: injections, suppositories, tablets, prefilled syringes and polymer containers. Production meets GMP standards.
The company had sales of more than $100 million in 2012.