Alvogen adds Asian manufacturing capacity in $187M Dream Pharma buyout

August 7, 2014 | By Nick Paul Taylor

Alvogen has continued its expansion into Asia by striking a $187 million deal to acquire South Korean drugmaker Dream Pharma. And the acquisition will add another production plant to Alvogen's global network, with Dream Pharma's 368 employees and a facility in HyangNam coming under its control.

The deal is Alvogen's second foray into South Korea in recent years. In October 2012 the generic drugmaker bought a majority stake in Kunwha Pharmaceuticals, another South Korean company with a production plant in the country. In the time between the two South Korean acquisitions Alvogen inked a deal with Taiwan's Lotus Pharmaceuticals. When the deal closes Alvogen will acquire two thirds of Lotus, which will then take control of its new parent company's Asian operations.

Dream Pharma will fall under Lotus' remit after both deals are completed, giving the Asian network more products, capacity and sales channels. "We gain more scale and broaden our portfolio," Alvogen VP Halldor Kristmannsson told FiercePharma Manufacturing. Kristmannsson sidestepped an emailed question about the possibility of post-takeover cutbacks, saying only that there are "significant marketing synergies" Alvogen and Dream Pharma will work on when the deal closes.

The South Korean government still needs to sign off on the deal, the Taipei Times reported. Alvogen expects all the paperwork to be in place by the fourth quarter. When the deal closes it will create one of the biggest generics businesses in South Korea, moving Alvogen closer to its ambition of consolidating the Asian market. Alvogen views the market as fragmented and thinks it can build up its business by acquiring and combining companies.