Dubai healthcare company buys stake in Kenyan drugs maker
Dubai-based healthcare company Shalina has bought an undisclosed stake in a Kenyan-owned pharmaceutical manufacturing company, expanding its medicine production and distribution venture to the seven countries in Africa.
Shalina Healthcare is a privately-owned company that has had a special focus on Africa for the past 30 years and runs its operations in Nigeria, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Ghana and Central Africa Republic.
The firm deals largely in prescription and over-the-counter medicines that include anti-malarials, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and nutrition. It has production facilities in India and China.
“The Competition Authority of Kenya excludes the proposed acquisition the manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceutical business of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company (Kenya) Limited by Shalina Healthcare Kenya Limited,” said CAK, Director General, Wang’ombe Kariuki.
“The merger will not affect competition negatively, the acquirer’s assets for the preceding year 2017 was Sh409,125 while the target’s value of asset was Sh43.3 million and the combined assets of Sh43.7 million meets the threshold for exclusion as provided under the Merger Threshold Guidelines,” said Mr Kariuki.
In Kenya, the firm’s subsidiary, Shalina Healthcare Kenya Limited, is working closely with Harleys Limited, a locally-based regional importer and distributor of healthcare and consumer goods. In its official site the firm says that Kenya’s Pharmacy & Poisons Board has given it a lifeline by helping it to successfully renew the factory registration of its facility in India.
“We work with our local partner, Harleys Ltd, and together we have successfully won a number of institutional tenders as well as serving the local trade market with high quality affordable medicines.”Source: Business Daily