What will be the fate of Valeant’s Vietnam venture?

May 05, 2016 | 08:46

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Investor William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management owns 9 per cent of troubled Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals, said earlier this week that the company would not sell its “crown jewel” assets.

However, Ackman did not mention assets that are not classified as “crown jewel”, which may include its 65 per cent stake in Vietnamese drug company Euvipharm, which it acquired for $20 million in 2013.

No Euvipharm representative was available for immediate comment.

In July 2013 Euvipharm became a subsidiary of Valeant. At that point, then Valeant CEO Mike Pearson said Vietnam, with its young and dynamic population and demographic trends, was one of the most attractive pharmaceutical markets in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese healthcare sector is forecast to continue to grow faster than that of many other countries.

He said the joint venture would not only serve the Vietnamese market, but would also be built towards exporting its products to Southeast Asia. It would act as a key manufacturing centre and play a vital part in Valeant’s regional strategy.

Headquartered in Laval, Quebec, Valeant has approximately 17,000 employees worldwide. Its markets are the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Russia, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Valeant reported an increase in sales in Asia in 2015.

Valeant, which is currently under fire from politicians and investors for its governance and drug-pricing practices, had $30 billion in outstanding debt as of April 2016. The company saw its stock price decrease from the peak of $257.53 on July 31, 2015 to the bottom of $26.98 per share on March 18, 2016, before rising to $35.78 per share on May 4.

By By Ha Duy

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