19 June 2018 - Deborah Wilkes
Alliance Pharma is acquiring the marketing rights to Johnson & Johnson's Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo in the Asia-Pacific region for GBP60.0 million (USD79.2 million).
The deal covers rights to Nizoral – which contains the active ingredient ketoconazole – in more than 15 countries including China, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
Johnson & Johnson has divested Nizoral to three buyers in four regions. US-based Kramer Laboratories has acquired Nizoral in North America and Latin America for an undisclosed sum (click here to read News story), while Germany's Stada Arzneimittel has acquired the brand in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region (click here to read News story).
Alliance Pharma said Nizoral was a "predominantly OTC focused brand" in the Asia-Pacific region.
The purchase price represents 3.2-times Nizoral's sales of GBP18.5 million in the Asia-Pacific region in 2017.
Alliance Pharma said the Nizoral rights would have generated proforma Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of GBP7.1 million in the Asia-Pacific region in 2017. The purchase price represents 8.5-times the proforma EBITDA.
Brand with a long medical heritage
Peter Butterfield, Alliance Pharma's chief executive officer, pointed out that Asia-Pacific was the company's "fastest-growing region" and Nizoral was an "excellent brand with a long medical heritage".
"Nizoral has significant sales, profits and growth potential in the Asia-Pacific region and will become the fourth international star brand in our product portfolio," added Butterfield.
According to Alliance Pharma, dandruff affects around half of the adult population. Quoting data from Euromonitor, the company said sales of OTC medicated haircare products in the Asia-Pacific region were around USD363 million in 2016.
Alliance Pharma said the Nizoral transaction would be funded by GBP27.9 million in debt plus an underwritten share placing to raise net proceeds of GBP32.1 million.
Recently acquired Vamousse
The company gained a third international star brand in December 2017 when it acquired worldwide rights to the head-lice treatment Vamousse from TyraTech and TYRU in a deal worth up to USD17.5 million (click here to read the News story).
Vamousse joined the existing international star brands – the scar-reduction product Kelo-cote and the MacuShield food supplement.
Alliance Pharma's sales increased by 6% to GBP103 million in 2017, as the Kelo-Cote and MacuShield brands recorded growth of 34% and 38% respectively. Excluding currency translations, sales were up by 3%.
The UK-based specialty pharmaceutical company commented that Kelo-Cote and MacuShield had "continued their strong performance in 2017".
Sales of the scar-reduction product Kelo-Cote increased by 34% to GBP13.3 million. Alliance Pharma said the brand had achieved "good performances across many international territories".
The MacuShield food supplement for eyecare recorded sales up by 38% to GBP7.3 million.
The company said its other brands had "performed in line with expectations".
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