Gerresheimer AG, one of the leading partners to the pharma and healthcare industry worldwide, will further extend its pharmaceutical packaging business with the acquisition of Centor.
Gerresheimer has agreed with Nemera Development S.A. to acquire 100% of the share capital of Centor US Holding Inc. “Centor is the highly profitable market leader for plastic vials and closures in the prescription retail market. This is a perfect fit to extend our product offering from packaging of parenterals to the packaging of oral drugs in the US. We expect that this acquisition will increase shareholder value significantly,” said Uwe Röhrhoff, Chief Executive Officer of Gerresheimer AG.
Centor is the leading manufacturer of plastic vials and closures for oral drugs in the prescription retail market. The US prescription industry is structured around the established ‘pour-and-count’ system, whereby the exact number of prescribed oral drugs is delivered to patients in plastic vials. Centor has a superior product portfolio, including Screw–Loc and 1-Clic, the two leading products in the US plastic vials market. Centor serves national and regional pharmacy chains, supermarkets and wholesalers. Centor’s annual revenue in 2014 amounted to USD 167m (pro forma).
It will be an all-cash, fully debt financed acquisition.
A quick deleveraging after the acquisition is expected driven, by Gerresheimer’s high cash generation. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and expected during the fourth quarter of financial year 2015. The transaction is expected to be adjusted EPS accretive by a low double digits percentage already in financial year 2016. Centor will be integrated in the Plastics & Devices Division of Gerresheimer.
“We are happy to join the Gerresheimer Group given its expertise in primary pharmaceutical packaging. In the future we will contribute to Gerresheimer’s success with our market leadership in the North American prescription plastic vial retail market”, said Paul Arsenault, President of Centor.