Irish animal health specialist Bimeda has bought an African business with yearly sales of €25 million, the company confirmed on Tuesday.
Bimeda makes drugs to treat livestock, horses, pets and other animals for a variety of diseases and problems.
The company said on Tuesday that it has bought Afrivet Southern Africa Proprietary Ltd, a Pretoria-based manufacturer that earned €25 million in sales last year.
The deal will boost the group’s business in Africa, which is headquartered in Kenya with subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
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Bimeda noted that Afrivet’s acquisition will give it the biggest “footprint of any animal health company” in Africa.
Afrivet has operations in Mozambique and Zambia along with South Africa.
The new purchase will become part of Bimeda’s Africa, Middle East, Asia (AMEA) division.
Ronan Smith, Bimeda’s AMEA chief executive, said Afrivet offered extensive products and technical services.
“After a long-established presence as the largest animal health company in east Africa, the acquisition will result in Bimeda having the largest footprint of any animal health company on the entire continent,” he added.
Dr Peter Oberem, Afrivet’s founder and managing director, predicted that the deal would strengthen the company’s products and services.
Over the last five years, Bimeda has entered the aquaculture and vaccine industries through deals in the US.
It also established a business in Denmark and built a facility in China while setting up a global innovation centre in the Republic.
The Dublin-headquartered group has operations in 11 countries, across Europe, Asia, Africa and north and South America. It employs 900 people.
