Member Article

Newcastle pharmaceutical company to be acquired for £230 million

Newcastle-based pharmaceutical company Aesica Pharmaceuticals Limited is to be acquired by The Board of Consort Medical plc in a £230 million deal.

The closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur in November, is conditional on the approval of Consort Medical’s shareholders and clearance by the German competition authorities.

Consort Medical plc is a UK company listed on the London Stock Exchange focused on developing and manufacturing disposable medical devices for drug delivery including inhaled, nasal and injectables products through its core operating division Bespak.

Aesica is one of Europe’s leading pharmaceutical CDMOs, providing contract development and manufacturing services for Finished Dose and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (“API”) to the global pharmaceutical industry.

Since the Aesica business was established in 2004, it has grown both organically and through acquisitions and has established key strategic relationships with major global blue-chip pharmaceutical companies.

CEO of Consort Medical plc, Jon Glenn, said “We are excited by the acquisition of Aesica which represents a very strong fit with our existing strategy of diversifying into adjacent markets and technologies to capture additional value in the drug/device supply chain.

“As one of Europe’s leading pharmaceutical CDMOs, Aesica is highly complementary to Bespak’s existing business and provides a number of clear strategic, competitive and value-enhancing benefits for the Enlarged Group.”

Founding CEO of Aesica, Dr Robert Hardy, said: “We are proud of what we have accomplished with Silverfleet Capital’s support in developing Aesica through a combination of organic growth, continuous process improvement and investment in capacity.

We continue to see many exciting opportunities in the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing sector and we look forward to pursuing these under the ownership of Consort Medical plc.“