Actavis sells businesses in western Europe to Aurobindo

Actavis, the US-listed drugmaker headquartered in Dublin, has agreed to sell its generic drug operations in seven western European countries to India's Aurobindo Pharma.

The company, which moved its headquarters to Ireland after acquiring Warner Chilcott in a $5 billion deal last year, said it wanted to focus on other regions including south-east Asia.

Aurobindo will buy Actavis’s generic products, marketing authorisations and dossier licence rights in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The purchase, expected to cost about €30 million, will be funded with Aurobindo’s own cash, the Indian company said in a statement.

"This transaction will permit Actavis to focus management time and resources to support accelerated investment in driving faster growth of other markets, including Central and Eastern Europe and south-east Asia," Sigurdur Oli Olafsson, president of Actavis Pharma, said in the statement.

Actavis said last week that it would end its presence in China due to a difficult business climate. While the country has more than 1.3 billion potential customers, the government has made it a difficult place to conduct business, chief executive Paul Bisaro said. The company has sold one operation there and is in talks to sell another. – Bloomberg