Canadian Pharma Gulps Brazilian Sports Drink Maker

Canadian pharmaceutical company Valeant has acquired Brazilian privately-held sports nutrition product and drink producer Probiotica Laboratorios in an all-cash deal valued at BRL150m ($86.7m). The acquisition cements Valeant’s foothold in Brazil, the one market, aside from Mexico, where Valeant maintains a presence in Latin America selling its generic pharmaceuticals. Valeant didn’t contract advisors for the deal, a spokeswoman says, and it is financing the buy with part of a new $500m tranche of its 2019 senior secured term loan B credit facility, announced earlier this week. Company officials estimate that the $86.7m that Valeant is paying for Probiotica represents an EV/Sales of 1.8x. Valeant previously acquired two Brazilian over-the-counter pharmaceutical companies in 2010 — one of which was Instituto Terapeutico Delta — a deal that included the purchase of a 165,000 square foot production plant.