Zoetis to Acquire PHARMAQ

On Nov 3, 2015

Florham Park-based Zoetis Inc. has announced an agreement to purchase PHARMAQ, a l leader in vaccines and innovation for health products in aquaculture, for a price of $765 million on a debt-free basis. Acquiring PHARMAQ strengthens Zoetis’ core livestock business, giving the company a market-leading presence in the fastest growing segment of the animal health industry. Zoetis is purchasing PHARMAQ from a company owned by Permira IV, a fund managed by the global investment firm Permira, which has been the majority owner of the company since 2013.

PHARMAQ is the market leader in sales of vaccines for farmed fish, a market segment growing 10 percent annually. The company generated revenues of approximately $80 million in 2014 and has a presence in the major aquaculture markets in the world. PHARMAQ revenue grew at a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent from 2005 to 2014. Privately-held PHARMAQ has approximately 200 employees, is based in Oslo, Norway, and has subsidiaries in Chile, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Spain, Turkey, Panama, and Hong Kong.

“This acquisition is a great strategic fit that brings to Zoetis an animal health leader with similar competitive advantages – an industry-leading portfolio, strong customer relationships, and world-class innovation and manufacturing,” said Zoetis Chief Executive Officer Juan Ramón Alaix. “We are gaining a new platform for growth and value creation that we can expand. PHARMAQ strengthens our core livestock business by providing market leadership in aquatic health and a strong late-stage pipeline in the world’s largest category of protein and fastest growing animal health market.”

“We see a tremendous opportunity to grow our business as part of Zoetis,” said Morten Nordstad, Chief Executive Officer at PHARMAQ. “Zoetis has proven expertise in supporting livestock producers with high-quality products and technical services that help improve animal health, productivity and profitability. By combining our experience and R&D capabilities, we believe we can optimize our industry-leading ability to develop vaccines and medicines for farmed fish. With Zoetis’ global footprint, we can deliver greater value to more customers around the world and accelerate our geographic expansion plans. This acquisition is a testimony to our success and to the highly skilled, innovative and hard-working employees of PHARMAQ.”

PHARMAQ’s well-respected R&D organization addresses many of the most pressing health needs of the aquaculture industry. Its late-stage development pipeline includes important new vaccines and next-generation parasiticides expected to enter the Norwegian, Chilean and UK markets in the near term.

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