Abbott Laboratories buys Russian manufacturer

Abbott Laboratories, the international healthcare company that will open a new manufacturing plant in Tipp City on Wednesday, announced an agreement today to acquire Veropharm, a leading Russian pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Abbott will acquire Limited Liability Company Garden Hills, the holding company that currently owns a controlling interest in Veropharm, for between 13.6 billion rubles and 17 billion rubles (or a range of approximately $395 million to $495 million) depending on Garden Hills’ share ownership of Veropharm at time of close.

Garden Hills currently owns more than 80 percent of Veropharm but is expected to own more than 95 percent by the time the transaction closes. Pursuant to the agreement, Abbott will also assume net debt of 4.7 billion rubles (or approximately $136 million U.S. dollars).

The $270 million nutritional drinks manufacturing plant that Abbott will open is expected employ 240 jobs. The plant will produce two Abbot brands, Ensure and Glucerna, for the North American market.