The Russian manufacturer of pharmaceutical products OAO Nizhpharm (a subsidiary of the international holding STADA Arzneimittel AG in Germany) intends to acquire the brand product portfolio Aqualor. The sellers of the brand are Butterwood Holdings Limited, located in Cyprus, and ZAO Pharmamed, located in Moscow.
The purchase price for Aqualor amounts to a total of €131 million. The completion of the contract is expected for the first quarter of 2014. The deal includes the transfer of the rights to a wide range of OTC seawater-based products for treating sinusitis and sore throat.
A framework agreement to purchase Aqualor evidently indicates STADA’s intention to strengthen its business activities in Russia. It is not by chance that the company chose the Aqualor brand. Since its launch in 2007, Aqualor has demonstrated vigorous sales growth and is now one of the leading products in the market segment for seawater products. In 2012 its net sales amounted to approximately €28 million, with an annual growth rate of 34%.
‘Aqualor is a very well established and recognized brand’, commented Sergei Shulyak, CEO of the DSM Group. Besides that, it was registered as a biologically active supplement, which means that there are almost no restrictions regarding its promotion. Now Aqualor is sold only in Russia, but STADA expresses a keen interest in launching the brand in other CIS and European markets.