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Australia’s ‘largest’ pharmaceutical importer takes off
MinterEllison has advised on an acquisition and merger that it says will effectively create Australia’s largest importer and distributor of pharmaceutical products.
Emma Musgrave
Source: minterellison.com/people/jeremy_blackshaw
Firm: MinterEllison (Arrow Pharmaceuticals and Apotex’s Australian subsidiaries)
Value: Undisclosed
Area: M&A, Finance
Key players: The MinterEllison team was led by partner Jeremy Blackshaw, with support from partner Andrea Frank; senior associates Steven Wang and Stephen Clarke; associate Rhett McPhie; lawyers Mark Simkiss, Daniel Fahey, Alix Friedman, Lucy Wang, Will Richards, Marissa Piazza; and graduates Annabel Healy and Harry Smith.
MinterEllison partners Geoff Carter and Miranda Noble, as well as senior associate Tom Faulls, assisted in competition issues, while partner Paul Kallenbach and senior associate Nicole Reid assisted in IT and transitional services, and special counsel Tim Davey assisted in employment issues.
Partner David Moore and senior associate Sarah Lefevre assisted in FIRB issues; partner Geoff Earl assisted in finance issues; and partners Adrian Varrasso and Craig Silverwood, as well as special counsel Robert Yunan and associate Daniel Kornberg, assisted in tax issues.
Deal significance: According to a statement from Minters, the merger has made Arrotex Australia’s largest generic pharmaceutical and private label OTC business with over 50 per cent market share of the Australian generic pharmacy market.
Arrotex products will account for almost 30 per cent of all prescription volume dispensed in pharmacies across Australia, the firm noted.
“MinterEllison’s role included advising on the simultaneous acquisition and merger of the Australian businesses and long-term shareholder arrangements between the owners as 50-50 equity partners,” a statement from Minters said.
“In addition, MinterEllison also advised on merger clearance, FIRB approvals, together with employment, long-term supply and transitional service arrangements.
“The transaction has taken almost two years to complete from initial discussions to close. In addition to the provision of legal advice, Arrotex also relied heavily on MinterEllison for project management and logistics assistance. Some of the challenges of the transaction involved dealing with numerous stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions, a complex financing structure and achieving FIRB and ACCC clearance in a tight time frame.”
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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