Ascendis

completed

Ascendis Health Limited (“Ascendis” or the “company”), is a diversified health care company with a broad portfolio of market-leading products (aimed at plant, animal and human health) and is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Ascendis’ strategy is to create a synergistic group of health product brands that cover the value chain from imports of raw materials, manufacturing and distribution to consumers, via retail and direct selling channels. Ascendis is currently 44.7% owned by Coast2Coast Capital (C2C), an investment group established in 2007. The company has business model focused on acquiring other facilities and a key acquisition recently (September 2015) was a 49% stake in Farmalider (http://www.farmalider.com), a developer and manufacturer of generic pharmaceutical products based in Alcobendas (Madrid, Spain). Ascendis holds more than 200 product registrations with the South African Medicines Control Council. The Group owns three buildings – Head Office and the PharmaNatura factory located in Johannesburg, and the Farmalider head office located in Spain. Other buildings occupied by the Group in South Africa are leased and located in Johannesburg, while Farmalider has two production plants in Spain, one in Alcobendas (Madrid) and another in Oviedo (Asturias), with 243 products registered on the Spanish market.Ascendis currently has three Divisions which comprise the Group: consumer products (encompassing Ascendis Wellness offering nutraceutical, health supplement and homeopathic brands; Ascendis Skin Care; and Sports Nutrition); Ascendis Pharma-Med (focusing on generic pharmaceuticals, medical devices and hospital equipment); and Phyto-Vet (focusing on pesticides, and plant and animal nutrition products). Centralised services at head office include Finance, Treasury, IT, human resources (HR), Marketing, Legal, Regulatory and Supply Chain. The JSE Listings requirements are aligned with international best practice, and it is mandatory to publish an integrated report on an annual basis (these may be found on the Group website http://www.ascendis.co.za).The company is seeking funds to acquire Remedica and Scitec (the “project”). Remedica is a generic pharmaceutical company with well-known brands in Africa, the Middle East, and European Union, and owns a portfolio of over 500 generic pharma products. Remedica’s head office is based in Limassol, Cyprus where it manufactures all its own products, including tablets, capsules, gels and creams, suppositories, oral liquids, powders, and syrups. Remedica operates five separate manufacturing facilities covering 40,000 sqm, all located on the same site encompassing a facility for general products, a Penicillin factory, a Cephalosporin factory, and an anti-cancer and a hormone factory, and offers the potential for Ascendis to transfer this technology into their home market, or expand into Africa. Scitec is engaged in the production and trading of mono- and multicomponent body building, sports nutrition, well-being products, and dietary supplements. The manufacturing facility is based in Hungary, although it has offices throughout Europe.The proposed investment is an up to $30 million (€27 million equivalent) equity investment in Ascendis Health Limited.