U.S. TPG Capital is willing to buy out over 50 percent in SIA International, the biggest pharmaceutical distributor of Russia.
Photo: Vasily Alexandrov
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TPG Capital Willing to Buy Out SIA International
U.S. TPG Capital is willing to buy out over 50 percent in SIA International, the biggest pharmaceutical distributor of Russia. SIA International is looking for a buyer in the wake of the scandal with the program of additional medicine supplies. It has been negotiating the business transfer with Millhouse Capital Management of Roman Abramovich since spring.
SIA International will have, perhaps, a new portfolio investor in the near term, for which injecting roughly $1 billion is a common practice, forecasted Yuri Krestinksy, former chief of the pharmaceutical department at the RF Health and Social Development Ministry.
Vladimir Melnikov, who stands for TPG Capital in Russia, declined to comment on the company’s interest in SIA International, but a manager of the firm that consults TPG confirmed the negotiations between the pharmaceutical distributor and the capital fund. According to him, TPG wants over 50 percent in SIA International and “the deal will be closed in a month or a month and a half.”
TPG will have to pay roughly $800 million for the majority stake in SIA International, said Maria Denisova, who is the general director at RMBC agency.
SIA International Ltd was set up in 1993. Its sales surged 44 percent on year to $2.16 billion in 2006. Igor Rudinsky, who is the general director and founder of SIA, owns around 80 percent in the company.
According to the experts, private distributors could be cut off the program of additional medicine supplies, which accounts for 15 percent to 20 percent of their business. Fueled by the risks, SIA set into motion negotiations with potential buyers, including Millhouse Capital Management of Roman Abramovich. But Millhouse “failed to make a worthy offer,” a source close to SIA specified yesterday, adding that Millhouse acquired a minority stake in SIA in August but Rudinsky bought it back later on.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 15, 2007
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