London, United Kingdom — Plexus Ventures is pleased to announce the conclusion of a successful divestment assignment for Novartis Consumer Health (Switzerland), for which Plexus Ventures acted as exclusive external advisor. Novartis recently sold the rights to Optalidon®, an analgesic product, to Omega Pharma (Belgium) in multiple European markets. During a highly competitive bidding process, several serious bidders emerged who completed Due Diligence. Novartis ultimately chose Omega Pharma, a company specializing in OTC products. The parties have chosen not to disclose the purchase price, which equated to a multiple of sales appropriate for a growth brand.
Additional details of the transaction, as distributed by ACQUIRE MEDIA – NEWSEDGE, November 26, 2012:
Belgian pharmaceutical company Omega Pharma NV has acquired the business related to the Optalidon painkiller from Swiss pharma major Novartis (VTX:NOVN), Omega Pharma’s CEO Marc Coucke told Belgian daily De Tijd on Friday.
Optalidon is among the most popular painkillers on the Italian market. Financial details of the transaction were not provided.
The recent takeovers enable Omega Pharma to evolve from a niche player in small markets into a group present in major pharmaceutical sectors, according to Coucke. In addition, the company has strengthened its positions in a number of big markets.
Earlier this year, Omega Pharma acquired a number of European over-the-counter brands of British pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK), including the Soldapeine painkiller.
