Róbert Wessman, Alvogen CEO
Alvogen is handing off two of its subsidiaries to CEO Róbert Wessman and his healthcare investment firm Aztiq — who has now tied the two together in a massive biobucks deal.
In an alliance with Thailand’s PTT Group subsidiary Innobic, the two companies signed an agreement last week to buy a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Market Holdings Limited (AEMH) for $475 million from Alvogen, buying out shareholders such as CVC Capital Partners and Singapore’s Temasek. And now, the group is the majority shareholder of Alvogen’s former Asian subsidiary Lotus Pharmaceuticals and the only shareholder of Alvogen Malta, the owner of B2B pharma Adalvo.
The aim of the consortium — and the transaction — according to Aztiq, is to create a pharma enterprise with global resources, networks and reach. And additionally, give Lotus and Adalvo ‘a compelling competitive advantage, enabling both enterprises to support one another and advance their global leadership in their sector,’ Wessman said in a statement.
Wessman will remain chairman of the board for both Lotus and Adalvo.
Alvogen acquired a majority stake in Lotus, an oncology-focused biotech, back in 2014. And over the past two years it had been involved in ‘strategic investments’ — making 10 investments back in April 2020 that include taking responsibility for development, regulatory affairs and manufacturing of products such as Celgene’s multiple myeloma drug Revlimid, along with Pfizer’s kidney cancer drug Sutent and prostate cancer therapy Xtandi.
And earlier this year Innobic spent $50 million to acquire shares in Lotus — close to 17 million shares.
In the case of Adalvo, Alvogen spun out Adalvo in 2018 from an in-house B2B platform into a separate business unit — which now boasts more than 60 differentiated meds in its portfolio.
The deal is expected to close in Q1 2022.
Alvogen Lux board director Tomas Ekman said in a statement that while Alvogen decided it was time to ‘monetize our investment,’ the two subsidiaries will continue to closely collaborate with Alvogen.
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