Pharma-major Wockhardt Limited on Thursday announced the acquisition of a German pharmaceutical firm -- esparma, GmbH -- for $11 million [Rs 49 crore (Rs 490 million)].
Wockhardt, which purchased esparma's sales and marketing divisions, has not acquired its production facilities. It will currently have access to esparma's production facilities and will subsequently move the manufacturing of products to its own facilities in the United Kingdom and India, Wockhardt said in a release on Thursday.
It has incorporated a new company -- Wockhardt Germany, GmbH -- to facilitate the new acquisition. The company will have 70 employees, most of them in sales, marketing and regulatory functions, it said.
esparma has a portfolio of 135 marketing authorisations, of which 67 are in Germany, the release said, adding it has nine international patents and 94 trademarks. It had sales of $20 million [Rs 90 crore (Rs 900 million)] in 2003.
Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala said: "esparma provided the right vehicle and was an attractive value proposition for our entry into Germany, the largest market of the European Union."