Acino Expands Latin American Footprint Via M8 Pharmaceuticals Acquisition

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- Acino, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, has entered into an agreement to acquire M8 Pharmaceuticals (M8), a fast-growing specialty biopharmaceutical company, focused on licensing, marketing, and distributing innovative and established medicines in Mexico and Brazil.

Through this acquisition, Acino will enter the two largest pharmaceutical markets in Latin America, significantly expanding its geographic footprint and strengthening its position in the region, providing a more powerful and comprehensive offering for healthcare professionals and patients.

The acquisition will complement Acino’s existing Latin American division, which is based in Panama and operates across eight countries in Central America, the Caribbean, and Ecuador, delivering high-quality medicines to improve people’s health in this key region.

“This is a transformative deal for Acino, significantly expanding our presence in Latin America and delivering against our overall strategy and stated intention to increase patient’s access to high-quality pharmaceuticals and diversify our footprint in key high-growth markets.

“We see M8 and Acino as highly complementary offerings, and we are confident that we can use this acquisition as a catalyst to further increase value and accelerate growth for Acino in this key region,” said Acino Interim Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Bird in a statement.

M8, a Montreux Growth Partners portfolio company, has a highly successful record of signing exclusive licensing agreements with large pharmaceutical and biotech companies for the rights to market and commercialise products in Latin America.

It brings a portfolio of well-known proven brands and innovative products, a best-in-class deal-making platform and an outstanding reputation among its partners, in addition to building a large pipeline across a broad range of key therapeutic areas.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including antitrust clearance, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Banco J.P. Morgan S.A. is acting as exclusive financial advisor, Goodwin LLP as exclusive legal advisor, and PricewaterhouseCoopers as exclusive accounting and tax advisor to Acino, while Stifel, Cooley LLP and Credit Suisse, a UBS Group Company acted as advisors to M8.

-- BERNAMA