Beximco Pharma completes acquisition of Nuvista Pharma

Beximco Pharmaceuticals has completed acquisition of 85.22 per cent stake in Nuvista Pharma worth over Tk 100 million to strengthen its position in hormones and steroids segments.
"The board of directors of Beximco Pharma has considered and approved the acquisition of 10,013,474 ordinary shares of Tk 10 each being 85.22 per cent shareholdings of total capital in Nuvista Pharma," according to a disclosure posted on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website Tuesday.
Earlier, the shareholders of the company approved the acquisition proposal in its annual general meeting.
Currently, the government of Bangladesh holds 12.92 per cent stake in Nuvista Pharma Limited, according to the disclosure.
In October last year, Beximco Pharmaceuticals entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the hormones and steroids drugs-maker at a programme.
Nazmul Hassan, managing director of Beximco Pharma, and Akhter Matin Chaudhury, chairman of Nuvista Pharma, signed the primary deal in the first week of October last year.
The directors believe that the acquisition will accelerate revenue growth and improve the earnings potential for Beximco Pharma.
The acquisition is the first in the company's history and will serve as a strong foundation for sustainable growth in the future, they said.
Nuvista Pharma, formerly Organon (Bangladesh) Limited, was a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Organon International. It was sold out to the current Bangladeshi management in 2006. The company has been operating in Bangladesh since 1964, with a local manufacturing plant in Tongi.
Founded in 1976, Beximco Pharma manufactures and sells generic pharmaceutical formulation products and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Each share price of the Beximco Pharma, which was listed on the Dhaka bourse in 1986, closed at Tk 106.20 on Tuesday, losing 0.56 per cent over the previous day.
The company's earnings per share stood at Tk 1.66 for October-December, 2017 as against Tk 1.47 for October-December, 2016.
In July-December period of 2017, the earning per share was Tk 3.25 as against Tk 2.74 in the same period a year ago.
The company disbursed 12.50 per cent cash dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2017.
The company's paid-up capital is Tk 4.05 billion and authorised capital is Tk 9.10 billion while the total number of securities is 405.55 million.
The sponsor-directors own 13.18 per cent stake in the company, while the institutional investors 28.57 per cent, foreign 41.13 per cent and the general public 17.12 per cent as on February 28, 2108, the DSE data shows.
Meanwhile, according to a statement, a brief ceremony was held at a city hotel on Monday where Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu was present as chief guest, according to a statement.
Praising the pharma industry's rapid progress and its important contribution to the country's economic development, Mr. Amu expressed the hope that such initiatives would open up new opportunities of growth for the pharma industry.
Nazmul Hassan, managing director of Beximco Pharma said: "We are proud to be the first in the country's pharma industry to employ acquisition as a part of our growth strategy. The completion of Nuvista acquisition will serve as a strong foundation for sustainable growth in the future through strengthening our position in hormones and steroids".
Beximco Group Vice Chairman Salman F Rahman and Managing Director of Nuvista Pharma Akhter Matin Chaudhury also spoke on the occasion.

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