Aesica Pharmaceuticals has secured a majority investment from private equity firm Silverfleet Capital, providing more capacity to expand operations in the UK and Europe.
Financial support will be provided by Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Acquisition Finance, HSBC and Yorkshire Bank and additional corporate support will continue to be supplied by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and Ward Hadaway.
The pharmaceutical manufacturer, which has operations in a several UK locations as well as Germany and Italy, said in a statement that it aims to become the number one supplier of pharmaceutical ingredients and formulated products to the global pharmaceutical industry.
A company with an established European presence, Aesica wants to grow into international markets – particularly the US. “Our long term strategic plan was to establish a manufacturing presence in the US and Asia in 2012 and with the support from Silverfleet Capital we can continue to expand into new markets, evolve and grow more swiftly,” said CEO Dr. Robert Hardy.
With a projected turnover for 2011 of $180m, Aesica is anticipating a successful 2012. Dr Hardy commented: “Most recently the three acquisitions of manufacturing sites in Germany and Italy demonstrate our commitment to enhancing Aesica’s service offering to the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.”
Adrian Yurkwich, a partner at Silverfleet Capital who involved in the transaction who will now join the non-executive director’s board, said: “Global outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacturing was worth $44bn in 2010 and is forecasted to grow at around seven per cent every year for the foreseeable future. Aesica is in a strong position to benefit from that growth through further expanding its international footprint.”
George Archer