Pharmaceutical manufacturer Synerlab has acquired Alcala Farma, a Spanish contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO). Alcala Farma specialises in the development of proprietary formulation, which represents nearly 40 per cent of its total EUR25 million sales.
Alcala Farma’s current portfolio of pharmaceutical drugs comes in multiple dosage forms includes sterile products, oral liquids, oral solids and topical products. Manufacturing is covered by two production sites in Spain, with one specialising in soft gelatin capsules and the other covering more than 250 formulations and 3 500 references.
For Synerlab, which has sales of nearly €M 110 and over 700 employees across five production sites in France, Alcala Farma represents a first step in the group’s European development.
With growth of approximately 8 per cent per year on average, Synerlab benefits from the trend of pharmaceutical groups increasingly outsourcing their manufacturing activities and repatriating production to Europe for better quality control as well as the growing demand for generics. The acquisition of Alcala Farma, financed by Synerlab’s shareholders, 21 Partners and Ardian, will see the group increase its revenue base by over 20 per cent with the proportion of sales outside of France rising from 30 per cent to 45 per cent.
Pierre Banzet, CEO of Synerlab, says: “The acquisition of Alcala Farma positions Synerlab as a leading European specialist pharmaceutical manufacturer. In addition to Alcala Farma’s complementary product portfolio and development capabilities, commercial synergies, relationships and sharing of resources will allow us to offer clients a more comprehensive service. We are delighted to welcome Alcala Farma’s professional and talented team to our group.”
Gérard Pluvinet, Founding Managing Partner and Jacques Rossignol, Managing Partner, of 21 Partners, adds: “With Alcala Farma, Synerlab has completed its first European acquisition and further opportunities outside of France are being closely reviewed. Along with Ardian, we will continue to support Synerlab’s team both financially and operationally by leveraging our proven expertise as a partner for the internationalization and growth of French companies.”
Alexis Lavaillote, Managing Director at Ardian Expansion, says: “We identified and developed our understanding of Alcala Farma early on in the acquisition process, enabling both management teams to swiftly begin working on the implementation of synergies.”
