Aesica plans global expansion with debt
This article was originally published in Scrip
Private equity group Silverfleet Capital has acquired a majority position in Aesica Pharmaceuticals ,,the UK-headquartered contract pharmaceutical formulator and manufacturer, by buying the stake owned by LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Bank. Members of Aesica's executive team have also agreed to reinvest a significant amount to secure a large minority stake. Debt, provided by Lloyds, HSBC and Yorkshire Bank, will be used to underwrite the company's international expansion ambitions, particularly in the US.
None of the details the financial transactions have been disclosed
"Our long term strategic ambition was to establish a manufacturing presence in the US and Asia in 2012 and with the support from Silverfleet Capital we can continue to expand into new markets, evolve and grow more swiftly," noted Aesica founder and CEO Dr Robert Hardy. Aesica was created through a 2004 management buyout of BASF's former manufacturing site at Cramlington in the UK (www.scripintelligence.com, 17 September, 2004).
Aesica has been building its manufacturing capacity first in the UK, through the acquisition of sites belonging to Merck & Co, Abbott and R5 Pharmaceuticals between 2006 and 2010, and in continental Europe earlier this year through the acquisition from UCB Pharma of three sites in German and Italy. The company, which expects to post revenues of $180 million in 2011, wants to grow its international footprint further – particularly in the US.
Through the Aesica stake Silverfleet Capital, with some €1 billion in funds under management, is returning to healthcare investing. Earlier this year the investor successfully exited Sterigenics, a contract sterilisation and ionisation services business, and Müller & Weygandt, a German dental consumables and appliance mail order distribution business.
"Global outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacturing was worth $44 billion in 2010 and is forecasted to grow at around 7% every year for the foreseeable future. Aesica is in a strong position to benefit from that growth through further expansion," added Adrian Yurkwich, the partner at Silverfleet Capital leading the transaction who will also join the board.