Back to the complete issue
Tuesday, 2 February 2021

A bidding war for GSK’s Egyptian arm?

Acdima may have just touched off a bidding war for GlaxoSmithKline's Egypt business, according to a regulatory filing (pdf) yesterday, less than a week after the global player revealed that Hikma was interested in a transaction. Acdima, a pharma industry investor focused on Arab countries, plans to make an offer for GSK’s 91.2% stake in its Egypt commercialization and manufacturing business through its Egypt arm, the British giant said.

The race began last week, when GSK said that it had signed a non-binding agreement with LSE-listed Hikma Pharma ahead of a potential sale. Hikma would lodge a mandatory purchase offer for the remaining 8.8% stake not owned by GSK should its board approve due diligence. The agreement also allows Hikma to potentially buy out GSK’s Tunisia operations.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2021 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of Commercial International Bank (tax ID: 204-891-949), the largest private-sector bank in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; and Act Financial (tax ID: 493-924-612), the leading activist investor in Egypt.