US financial company Warburg Pincus LLC is buying Slovak pharmaceutical producer Slovakofarma, a.s. Hlohovec. On January 20 in Vienna, both companies signed an agreement securing the majority of the financial investor in Slovakofarma. Pavel Hraska, spokesman for Slovakofarma told SITA that the acquisition needs approval from both the Czech Republic’s and Slovak antitrust authorities.

Executive director of Warburg Pincus Nick Lowcock said that if the agreement comes into effect, the acquisition will create one of the five largest pharmaceutical groups in central and eastern Europe. The working name fully describes its aim: Alliance for Europe. „This alliance means for Slovakofarma and its Czech partner Leciva Praha a chance to preserve pharmaceutical production in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and an opportunity to succeed on the central European market,“ stated Slovakofarma’s director general Ondrej Gattnar.

Slovakofarma was transformed into a joined stock company in 1992. After privatization two years later, Slovak company SL Pharma Holding GmbH, with its seat in Vienna, became the majority shareholder. Slovakofarma is the largest, oldest, and most important pharmaceutical company in Slovakia. It places about half of its output in the Czech Republic and exports its products to another 59 countries.

Warburg Pincus is a leading investment fund functioning worldwide. Since 1971 the firm invested more than USD 12 billion in 450 companies in 29 countries.