Watson Acquires Specifar Pharmaceuticals for $562M

Watson Pharmaceuticals WPI and Specifar Pharmaceuticals S.A. today jointly announced that Watson has acquired the privately-held multinational generic pharmaceutical developer, manufacturer and marketer for EUR 400 million ($562 million) in cash and certain contingent consideration. In addition, this acquisition enhances Watson's commercial presence in key European markets by providing a portfolio of approved products. The transaction also gives Watson a strong branded-generic commercial presence in the EUR 6 billion Greek pharmaceutical market. Specifar's pipeline includes a generic tablet version of Nexium, which could launch in certain European markets as early as the fourth quarter of 2011. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Specifar's former owners could receive additional consideration based on future profits from this product. Watson anticipates that the transaction will be immediately accretive to 2011 non-GAAP earnings. Specifar, with annual revenue of approximately EUR 85 million for 2010, operates two core businesses. The Company is a third-party product developer, with approximately 400 marketing authorizations licensed to third parties for sale in 36 countries, predominantly in Europe. Specifar has eight products currently filed in the EU and additional products in development. The Company's development business, which operates internationally, accounts for more than 70% of total revenues.