Barcelona, April 27th, 2017. The pharmaceutical company Uriach has closed the acquisition of Theralab, a Portuguese company that specialises in the commercialisation of food supplements. The transaction, which took place at the beginning of April, is part of the company’s Strategic Plan 2013-2017, which contemplates significant growth by means of mergers and acquisitions in addition to international expansion.
Theralab is a pharmaceutical company that was established in 2007 and specialises in Food Supplements. It has an annual turnover in excess of 5 million euro and employs 40 staff. In recent years, this highly innovative organisation has launched several of the biggest-selling brands and products in Portuguese pharmacies, such as Depuralina, Angelicalm and Memofante, with the aim of offering high-quality natural solutions that promote health and wellbeing.
The business models of Uriach and Theralab present great similarities: in both, the focus of their products and promotion is on the end consumer in the pharmaceutical market. This will allow Uriach to create and leverage important synergies and exchange products and know-how while it strengthens its pre-existing business in Portugal, increasing critical mass and volume within the pharmaceutical channel. Uriach has had its own sales network in Portugal since 2015, which centres mainly on the Aquilea, Innovage and Fisiocrem brands, with a turnover in the region of 1 million euro.
With this new acquisition, Uriach has consolidated its position in the Portuguese market and become one of the leaders in the Food Supplements business. Moreover, it is on course to become one of the most important companies in this area of Consumer Healthcare in Europe. In fact, Uriach boasts a broad portfolio of extremely high-quality, innovative products that are sold in pharmacies in what is a highly strategic channel: the products – which include powerful brands such as Aquilea, Innovage, Fisiocrem, Fave de Fuca, Filvit, Utabón and Laborest – are promoted in doctor’s offices and directly to consumers. The company’s expansion will continue with the growth stimulated by the increasingly numerous synergies between the two countries and any subsequent acquisitions or strategic agreements made in other parts of Europe in the near future.
The transaction was completed at the beginning of April, and was carried out with the advice of the Mergers and Acquisitions team at Banca March.
Internationalisation
The Portugal acquisition falls under one of the centrepieces of the Strategic Plan 2013-2017: the consolidation of the company’s international presence. At the beginning of this period, Uriach already sold its products in more than 50 countries by means of licensing and distribution agreements. This first method of internationalisation (B2B) has continued and intensified, with important milestones such as the signing of a licence agreement for Rupatadina in Japan, sales of which will begin at the end of the year upon completion of clinical development and registration.
Over the last few years, a second means of internationalisation has been incorporated into the company’s strategy: direct presence in specific countries that are key territories for the Consumer Healthcare business, with Europe being the main focus. In this sense, activity began in Portugal, and has now been consolidated with the acquisition of Theralab, while in Italy, the company has also acquired Laborest. This strategy will be pursued further, as business opportunities in other European markets are being actively sought and analysed.
This internationalisation process has resulted in the fact that Uriach products are currently sold in more than 70 countries in the world’s major regions and that sales outside Spain in 2017 represented close to 60% of the company’s total turnover, growing from less than 30% in 2012.
Yearly results 2016
The Uriach pharmaceutical company closed the 2016 financial year with a consolidated turnover in excess of 151 million euro, which represents a growth of 16% compared with the previous year. It was the fourth consecutive year that Uriach saw double-digit growth. The group, which currently employs 800 staff, also reported an extraordinary increase in its gross earnings (EBITDA) in the 2016 financial year, with a growth of 28% compared with the previous year to reach 42 million euro.
Uriach has two main business interests, of which the Consumer Healthcare area or health and wellbeing consumer products reports the strongest growth, at 25% compared with the previous year (having already grown by 16% last year). This extraordinary growth is partly due to the effect of the acquisition of Laborest in mid-2015, but also reflects the success of this activity over the last few years, positioning Uriach at the forefront of Consumer Healthcare in different European countries with a turnover in the region of 80 million euro. From an internal perspective, this means that this business area now represents 50% of Uriach’s total business.
The company’s other business area is B2B, and includes both the development and commercialisation of New Chemical Entities (NCEs), APIs and generic drugs (developed by the company’s own R&D division and licensed to other pharmaceutical companies to be commercialised via their sales networks in more than 70 countries) and contract manufacturing. Together, these activities grew more than 6% and represent a positive complement to the Consumer Healthcare area.
In terms of forecasts for 2017, Uriach expects to achieve growth of between 10%-15% to reach a turnover of 170 million euro and total gross earnings (EBITDA) in the vicinity of 50 million euro. Uriach’s CEO Oriol Segarra states, “We are nearing the end of the Strategic Plan 2013-2017 and the current results, together with our forecasts for this year, lead us to feel confident that we will meet the commitments made. Furthermore, we are working on the next Strategic Plan, which will set the company’s course for the next few years and will continue the current trend of profitable growth and internationalisation.”