Teva to Sell UK and Irish Assets to Accord Healthcare

Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is planning to sell the assets of Actavis Generics in the UK and Ireland to Accord Healthcare, a subsidiary of India’s Intas Pharmaceuticals, for £603 million. The move is part of an agreement with the European Commission to divest certain assets acquired in various countries as a result of its $40.5 billion purchase of Allergan’s global generics business, which trades as Actavis. The Commission approved the takeover in March but on condition that the bulk of both companies’ generics businesses in the UK and Ireland and Teva’s portfolio in Iceland were sold off.

The sale to UK-based Accord Healthcare will include a portfolio of generic medicines and a manufacturing plant in Barnstaple, UK. Teva is retaining a number of Allergan’s non-overlapping generic products as well as certain specialty medicines and over-the-counter products, which have been integrated within its existing operations.

President and CEO Global Generic Medicinesm at Teva, Siggi Olafsson, said the group will create an even stronger operation in the UK and Ireland with the assets it retains. “Teva is the leading provider of medicines to the UK National Health Service and the addition of the retained Actavis assets strengthens our ability to be the partner of choice in these countries while preserving strong and healthy competition in a competitive marketplace,” he commented. The transaction is expected to close in the next three months.