MONTREAL—Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. recentlyannounced that it will acquire OraPharma, a specialty pharmaceutical companyspecializing in oral health, for approximately $312 million.
Valeant willacquire the company from Water Street Healthcare Partners, a private equityfirm solely focused on the healthcare industry. An additional $114 million inpotential contingent payments is also possible if certain milestones and revenuetargets are reached. The transaction was expected to close in June, and isexpected to be accretive to Valeant in 2012.
The acquisition is one of several transactions Valeant hascompleted so far in 2012, as the company has pursued both companies and selectassets. In May, Valeant agreed to acquire certain assets—including AcneFree, anover-the-counter acne treatment—from University Medical Pharmaceuticals Corp.for approximately $64 million plus potential milestone payments. Valeant alsoacquired assets from Swiss Herbal Remedies Ltd. and from Gerot Lannach forunspecified amounts, as well as certain assets from Atlantis Pharma forapproximately $71 million.
Additional acquisitions of companies as a whole includePedinol, which Valeant acquired in April for less than 1.5 times sales.Pedinol, a privately owned specialty pharmaceutical company that focuses onpodiatry, posted revenue of approximately $18 million in 2011, and theacquisition was expected to be immediately accretive. Valeant also acquired NaturProdukt International JSC for roughly $180 million (with the potential for anadditional $5 million in milestones), which gained it a large presence in theover-the-counter segment in several categories and enhanced the company'spresence in Russia. Eyetech Inc. was acquired in February for less than twotimes sales, and Probiotica Laboratorios Ltd. was acquired in the same monthfor approximately $74.1 million). Both acquisitions were expected to beimmediately accretive.
OraPharma develops and commercializes products for theimprovement and maintenance of oral health for dental practitioners and patientcare. Founded in 1996, the company became a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnsonin 2002, and then was acquired by Water Street Healthcare Partners in 2010. Thecompany posted a trailing 12-month net revenue of approximately $95 million inMarch, with growth at a high-single digit rate.
"We are excited to enter a new attractive market segmentwith an already established sales infrastructure focused entirely on the dentalcommunity," J. Michael Pearson, chairman and CEO of Valeant, said in a pressrelease regarding the deal. "We believe that this market segment has similarcharacteristics to the dermatology, podiatry and ophthalmology markets andshould offer us the opportunity to cross-sell some of our current products,most notably our new topical prescription cold sore medication, Xerese. We believe the OraPharma business is a newgrowth platform from which to build additional opportunities in the future."
OraPharma's leading product is Arestin, a locallyadministered antibiotic that is indicated as an adjunct to scaling and rootplaning procedures to reduce pocket depth in patients with adult periodontitis.Thanks to advanced microsphere technology, Arestin works via acontrolled-release delivery system to deliver its medicine over time, killingbacteria that can lead to periodontitis. OraPharma notes on its website that itmaintains a relationship with Johnson & Johnson, as it partners withJohnson & Johnson Healthcare Products to offer Listerine and Reachproducts. The company also partners with DePuy Spine Inc. to offer HEALOSDental Bone Graft Substitute, which is "intended to fill, augment orreconstruct periodontal and/or bony defects of the upper or lower jaw." Theproduct represents a bone graft substitute that the body resorbs and remodelsin to new bone as part of its natural healing process.
No details were released as to Valeant's plans forOraPharma's employees or its facilities in Horsham, Pa., and neither companyresponded to requests for comments on the transaction.
Pedinol
Natur Produkt International, JSC
Eyetech Inc.
