VILNIUS - Sanitas made investment history last week in Lithuania when its bid for Jelfa, a Polish pharmaceutical company, was declared the winner by Polish state authorities. Sanitas said on April 7 that it would pay 534.3 million zlotys (134.7 million euros) for an 84.5 percent stake in Jelfa, a company much larger than itself. The deal represents the single largest investment by a Lithuanian company in the neighboring Polish economy.
CEO Saulius Jurgelenas said the size of the Jelfa acquisition was about 10 times bigger than Lithuania's aggregate direct investment in the neighboring country to date. He said the deal would transform Sanitas, which is Lithuania's largest drug producer.
"The acquisition of the Polish pharmaceutical plant will have a great impact on the development of Sanitas' operations," Jurgelenas said in a statement. "Following the completion of the share purchase transaction, we will analyze the situation and take decisions on our next steps toward improving Jelfa's operating efficiency," he added.
The Polish Treasury confirmed on April 6 that it had sold its 26.11 percent stake of Jelfa to Sanitas within the framework of the tender offer. Polish authorities have already agreed to sell a combined 47.8 percent of Jelfa to Kaunas-based Sanitas.
The Invalda investment group, which owns Sanitas, earlier acquired 9.99 percent of Jelfa.
Transfer of ownership is likely to take place on April 15, according to Sanitas officials. As to Jelfa's listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Jurgelenas said that Sanitas could supplant it sometime in the future.
"It is possible that Jelfa's shares will remain listed, but we do not rule out delisting them from the Warsaw bourse and instead offer Sanitas' shares, which, at the same time, would be quoted on the Vilnius Stock Exchange," he said.
"We want Jelfa to become the key link in the group's efforts to take a leading position in the central European generic drug market," he said.
Sanitas' shares are now quoted on the blue chip Official List of the VSE.
Invalda owns 52.92 percent of the company.
