Czech pharma giant buys Turkish peer

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2007

PRAGUE (AFP) — The Czech Republic's biggest pharmaceutical company, Zentiva, said Monday that it had agreed to buy 75 percent of Turkey's biggest drug company Eczacibasi Generic Pharmaceuticals for 460 million euros (606.7 million dollars).

The Czech company, which already has plants in Slovakia and Romania, added that it will also have the right to buy the remaining 25 percent of the company within two years.

"Turkey is, from a world perspective, one of the most dynamic pharmaceutical markets and Eczacibasi Generic Pharmaceuticals gives us a leading position on that market," said Zentiva general manager, Jiri Michal.

The deal fulfills part of its strategy of developing on key markets in Central and Eastern Europe, he added.

Zentiva's biggest...