United Drug buys British medical consultancy for €16m
The acquisition is of Watermeadow Medical Consulting and will boost the Dublin-headquartered group’s medical communications capability and global offering for its international pharmaceutical manufacturer customers further.
It will further diversify its interests away from drug delivery services and the Irish market. Nearly 70% of United Drug’s annual profits are generated from its businesses outside Ireland and management has previously said it aims to increase that figure to 80% by 2015.
According to United Drug chief executive Liam FitzGerald:
“Watermeadow has an excellent reputation in the market,” he said.
The transaction is expected to be immediately positive for the Irish company, while the acquisition costs are to be financed from United Drug’s internal resources and existing debt facilities.
The £13m consideration is a maximum payment, with the full amount reliant on the British company meeting certain agreed performance targets.
The Irish company will pay £6m of the money in cash on completion of the deal.
An additional amount “of up to £7m” is then payable, based on “achievement of agreed profit targets over the next two years”.
