DCC Healthcare Acquires British generic drug maker Kent Pharma

DCC Healthcare has reached conditional agreement to acquire Kent Pharmaceutical (Holdings) Limited  a leading British generic pharmaceuticals company, for EUR71.2 million. The transaction values Kent Pharma at 6.6 times trailing EBITDA and 0.79x trailing Revenues. Kent Pharma employs 304 people including a team of 37 in regulatory and portfolio development.  

Kent Pharma is involved in the development, manufacture, sales, marketing and distribution of generic pharmaceuticals for the British, Irish and international markets.  It has a broad portfolio of its own licensed products with a particular focus on beta lactam antibiotics including penicillin V, flucloxacillin and amoxicillin, which are long established antibiotics typically used to treat bacterial infections such as throat, ear and respiratory tract infections. Kent Pharma is the market leader in these products in Britain and also operates a specialist beta lactam manufacturing facility located in Roscommon, Ireland (Athlone Pharmaceuticals). The balance of the product portfolio covers a broad range of therapy areas.

DCC Healthcare's existing pharma activities

DCC Healthcare sells, markets and distributes innovative and generic pharma products in Ireland and Britain through the hospital, pharmacy and homecare channels. DCC Healthcare's portfolio of own and third party pharmaceuticals encompasses a range of therapy areas including oncology, antibiotics, pain management, haematology, respiratory, addiction and emergency medicine. Following the acquisition in May 2011 of the trade and assets of Neolab, a British generic pharma business, DCC Healthcare has been growing its presence in the retail pharmacy channel in Britain and Ireland. DCC Healthcare also provides outsourced pharma compounding services to hospitals in Ireland, which involves the aseptic filling of intravenous oncology, pain management, antibiotic and paediatric nutrition products into patient ready dosage forms.