Lupin to acquire Southern Cross Pharma in Australia

Global pharmaceuticals company Lupin notified stock exchanges on Friday morning that General Health, its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary, will acquire Southern Cross Pharma (SCP).

Lupin didn't disclose the deal value, which is in its closing stages. But its stock-exchange filing stated SCP's revenue of AUD 32.8 million ($28.25 million) in its financial year-ended June 2021.

SCP develops, registers, and distributes generic products. Through SCP, Generic Health will gain access to more than 60 registered products after the deal is consummated and approved within the next six months.

According to Lupin's filing, the businesses of SCP is aligned with that of Lupin, which will significantly increase its value proposition and share in the Australian pharmaceuticals market.

For Lupin, the deal is also important because its has a stated strategy of expanding and deepening its presence in selected markets.

"The Southern Cross Pharma portfolio builds on our existing portfolio of prescription generics, over the counter, and specialty range of products," said Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director of Lupin in the stock exchange filing.

Generic Health, the fourth-largest generic pharma company in Australia, with annual revenue of AUD 57 million ($42 million), will benefit from SCP's portfolio of more than 60 difficult-to-develop generic pharmaceutical products, said Ashutosh Damle, CEO of Generic Health.

"This substantially strengthens our product offering, and enables us to deliver enhanced value for our stakeholders, patients and communities,” said Damle in the stock exchange filing.

"SCP has had a preference to develop a portfolio of products that are more demanding than the standard generics," said Neill Stacey, Managing Director and owner of SCP.

Incorporated in 2000, SCP's early products were developed for the "over the counter" (OTC) market. But the focus evolved towards the supply of prescription products for retail pharmacy and direct marketing of its own-brand product, SXP, to the hospital sector.

SCP has over 330 entries on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, according to the stock exchange filing.

The announcement pushed up Lupin's stock price to rise over 3.78 percent at the day's high of Rs 1,126.75 a share, compared to its Thursday close of Rs 1,085.65. Lupin closed 1.98 percent higher at the end of Friday's trade.