Country for PR: United Kingdom
Contributor: PR Newswire Europe
Friday, November 26 2021 - 19:06
AsiaNet
Robert Wessman-led Aztiq and Innobic join forces in $475m acquisition of Lotus Pharmaceutical and Adalvo to create a global pharmaceutical powerhouse
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/--

- The Aztiq-Innobic consortium will acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging 
Markets Holdings Limited, thereby becoming the leading shareholders in Lotus 
Pharmaceutical and the sole shareholder in Adalvo 
- Robert Wessman, chairman and CEO of Alvogen and founder of Aztiq, will 
continue as chairman of the board of Lotus and Adalvo.
- The consortium creates a unique alliance of leaders and investors with the 
industry experience, geographical reach, commitment to sustainable development 
and financial strength to accelerate the companies' development

    Aztiq  [https://www.aztiqfinance.com/] ("Aztiq"), a healthcare investor led 
by Alvogen Founder and Chairman Robert Wessman, and Innobic (Asia) Company 
Limited ("Innobic"), [https://innobicasia.com/corporate-profile/direction] a 
life sciences subsidiary of Thailand industrial group PTT,  today announced the 
signing of a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging 
Market Holdings Limited ("AEMH") from its existing shareholders for $475 
million. The aim of the alliance between Aztiq and Innobic and the transaction 
is to create a powerful pharmaceuticals enterprise with global resources, 
networks and reach.

    Through the transaction, one of the largest in the sector this year, the 
consortium becomes the leading shareholder in the global oncology 
pharmaceutical company Lotus Pharmaceutical ("Lotus", TWSE ticker: 1795), and 
the sole shareholder in Alvogen Malta Holding Ltd., the owner of the 
fast-growing global business to business (B2B) pharmaceutical company Adalvo. 

    AEMH is currently owned by Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl ("Alvogen").  Key 
shareholders in Alvogen include CVC Capital Partners and Temasek Holdings of 
Singapore, as well as Aztiq. Alvogen will remain a leading shareholder in the 
generic pharmaceutical company Alvogen US, including specialty pharma company 
Almatica, [https://almatica.com/] as well as the second largest shareholder in 
global biosimilars company Alvotech. [https://www.alvotech.com/]
The members of the consortium bring impressive and complementary leadership and 
expertise. Robert Wessman has over the last six years successfully led the 
transformation of Lotus from a small local Taiwanese company into a leading 
generic ora oncology company.  Innobic's parent company PTT Group is Thailand's 
largest industrial conglomerate, with extensive commercial and business 
networks across the fast-growing ASEAN countries.
Aztiq's founder and chairman, Robert Wessman, will continue to serve as 
chairman of the board of both Lotus and Adalvo. 
This consortium's unique market knowledge along with strong support from 
shareholders will provide Lotus and Adalvo with a competitive advantage in a 
thriving industry, enabling them to extend their leadership globally. Both 
companies share the mission of making high-quality medicines accessible to 
patients around the world, and with the expertise and resources that will be 
readily available to them, they will accelerate progress towards this goal. 
From oral oncology to research innovation in over-the-counter products, Lotus 
and Adalvo will together pave the way for greater global access to first-class 
treatments and medication.

    Robert Wessman, chairman and CEO of Alvogen and founder of Aztiq, 
commented: "I am very proud to have witnessed the maturation of both Lotus and 
Adalvo. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the existing 
shareholders for their great support in the transformation of both Lotus and 
Adalvo, and at the same time to welcome our new partner Innobic as we look 
forward to carrying out the essential work of expanding access to medicines to 
more people who need them. With our vast collective expertise, and the 
comprehensive geographic networks and solid market intelligence in ASEAN 
brought by innobic and PTT, I believe that Lotus and Adalvo will have a 
compelling competitive advantage, enabling both enterprises to support one 
another and advance their global leadership in their sectors."

    Dr. Buranin Rattanasombat, senior executive vice president, innovation and 
new ventures, PTT and chairman of Innobic (Asia), commented: "This partnership 
will accelerate our goal and enable Innobic to leap into being a fully 
integrated pharmaceutical company. By being the major shareholder in Lotus 
Pharmaceutical jointly with Aztiq, Innobic will have access to the capability 
of operating a full suite of pharmaceutical business with a primary focus on 
generic in many key disease areas, specially oncology and neurological disease. 
This investment, together with the global networks of Adalvo,will strengthen 
access to high quality medicines in region and  is a major milestone for our 
life sciences business and its mission to advance public health and the 
pharmaceutical industry in Thailand and the region."

    Tomas Ekman, Director of the Board, Alvogen Lux, commented: "After 7 years 
as the lead shareholder of Lotus and the broader Asian business, Alvogen 
concluded that now is the right time to monetize our investment and letting 
Aztiq and Innobic continue the journey Lotus is on. Both Adalvo and Lotus will 
continue to collaborate closely with the Alvogen group of companies. Today's 
announcement is consistent with Alvogen's strategic focus and we intend to 
deploy the proceeds from the transaction in line with our capital allocation 
priorities to maximize shareholder value."
    
    NOTES TO EDITORS:

    About Aztiq
*   Aztiq is a long-term healthcare investor focused on pharmaceuticals, led by 
Alvogen founder and chairman Robert Wessman. Going forward, Aztiq will be 
acting as a specialized pharmaceutical fund advisor and manager investing in 
various pharmaceutical assets. 
*  Aztiq's shareholder base consists of individual investors as well as major 
international investment funds among whose largest assets are pharmaceuticals 
companies Alvogen, Alvotech, Lotus, Almatica, Almaject and Adalvo. 
*  Established in 2009, Aztiq was founded on the principle that everyone should 
have the right to medicine, regardless of their financial means.

   Relevant history
*  Alvogen acquired a majority stake in Lotus in 2014 and since then Lotus has 
evolved into a next-generation pharmaceuticals company focused on global 
oncology, with direct market access in more than 10 countries in Asia and a 
portfolio with global into more than 130 markets. 
*  Since 2018, Alvogen has evolved Adalvo from an in-house B2B platform into a 
separate business unit focusing on global markets. Adalvo has rapidly achieved 
remarkable growth, with over 500 transactions and a world-class portfolio of 60 
differentiated medicines. It is currently one of the fastest growing B2B 
pharmaceutical company globally, serving partners and patients in over 100 
markets around the world.

    Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1696901/Virtual_Signing.jpg  
    Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1696676/AZTIQ_Logo.jpg 
   
Source: Aztiq Fjárfestingar ehf