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Arqaam Capital Announces Closing of the Sale of a Significant Minority Stake in Orchidia Pharmaceutical Industries
Arqaam Capital Announces Closing of the Sale of a Significant Minority Stake in Orchidia Pharmaceutical Industries
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging
and frontier investment bank, announced today that it has acted as
the exclusive sell-side advisor to SPE Capital ("SPE"), formerly
Swicorp Private Equity, Orchidia Pharmaceutical Industries
("Orchidia"), and Dr. Ossama Abbas, the founder, majority
shareholder and Chairman of Orchidia, with respect to the sale of a
significant minority stake to the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund
("EAEF"). Orchidia is a leading Egyptian ophthalmic generic
medicine manufacturer and one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical
companies in Egypt.
The transaction, which closed today
following satisfaction of customary closing conditions, consists of
a capital increase that will be subscribed to by EAEF and Dr.
Ossama Abbass, in addition to EAEF acquiring the stakes owned by
SPE Capital and other minority shareholders. The proceeds of the
capital increase will be used to enhance the capital base of the
Company and finance its expansion plans.
Amr Sultan, Executive Director at Arqaam
Capital commented: "We are delighted to have worked alongside the
shareholders of Orchidia in closing this transaction and to have
helped SPE achieve impressive returns of three times the amount
invested in 2013 in USD terms. This transaction marks yet another
milestone in solidifying Arqaam Capital's presence in Egypt and
further demonstrates the firm's M&A capabilities."
Dr. Ossama Abbas commented: "The previous
couple of years have been really challenging for the pharmaceutical
industry in Egypt. However, the Orchidia team was able to
capitalize on this opportunity by consistently working hard and
focusing on delivering high quality affordable medicine to the
market in addition to opening up key export markets. We are proud
of our achievements and are looking forward to our next phase of
growth in the local and export markets with the support of our new
partners."
David Rey, Managing Director at Swicorp
said: "When we invested in Orchidia back in January 2013, Egypt was
just emerging from its revolution, with all the uncertainties that
this entailed. Not many investors were around at that time. We've
selectively chosen the pharma sector for its defensive nature,
designed a structure to mitigate risks when possible, and partnered
with a businessman culturing the highest standards of ethics,
skills and leadership. We've seen a lot since then: a regime
change, regulatory adjustments, a major devaluation and significant
pricing changes across the industry. The company navigated steadily
through all these challenges and I like to think that the strength
and quality of our partnership was key in supporting the company
and its management to successfully do so."
Commenting on the exit, Mehdi Charfi,
Partner at SPE said: "We are proud to leave the company in a
totally different place from the time we invested in it:
strengthened brand and image, significantly higher market share, a
fast-growing export business and stronger governance. This is a
testament to the resilience and attractiveness of the Egyptian
market where we see number of attractive opportunities and where we
continue to actively prospect."