ZAGREB (Croatia), October 1 (SeeNews) – Croatian drug maker Pliva, part of Israeli-based Teva Group, said it has sold its biopharmaceuticals business to U.S.-based Hospira for an undisclosed sum.
Under the deal, Hospira will acquire Pliva's Croatian biopharmaceutical operations, including projects, relevant employees and the new biopharmaceutical facility located in Savski Marof, Pliva said in a filing to the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) on Wednesday.
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The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year following the fulfillment of the agreed conditions.
Hospira is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company.
"I am glad that the negotiations with Hospira have been successfully completed and that the biopharmaceutical segment will continue to be developed in Croatia,” the President of Pliva's Managing Board, Matko Bolanca, said in the statement.
The move is in line with Pliva's previously announced drive to streamline its biopharmaceutical activities following the acquisition of Pliva's owner, U.S.-based Barr Pharmaceuticals, by the Israeli group in 2008, the statement said.
Last month, Pliva said it will sell the diagnostics business of its Czech unit Pliva-Lachema and will discontinue all manufacturing activities at its Brno site by the end of 2009.
At the end of last year, Pliva (www.pliva.com) operated wholly-owned subsidiaries in 16 countries worldwide, data form the company's 2008 consolidated financial statement indicated.
Pliva's first-half consolidated loss widened to 719.8 million kuna ($144.2 million/98.9 million euro) from 103.8 million kuna a year earlier.
Pliva shares were last traded on the ZSE on September 22, closing unchanged at 467 kuna.
(1 euro=7.2755 Croatian kuna)