 Ranbaxy Laboratories would acquire the unbranded generic business of Allen SpA, a subsidiary of MNC pharma major Glaxo SmithKline in Italy. The acquisition would be made through the Italian subsidiary of the company, Ranbaxy Italia SpA. The cost of acquisition and the financials of the target company have not been disclosed. Out of the total Italian pharma market of $14 billion, generics now account for only around $420 million per annum. However the growth rate for generics in the Italian market is close to 50 per cent per annum, which would see the market size expanding considerably in the near term. The acquisition would provide Ranbaxy with ready and wider access to the Italian market. Ranbaxy Italia is yet to launch any product of its own and is currently in the process of getting regulatory approvals. The company said the product portfolio of Allen SpA compliments Ranbaxy's own portfolio. Ranbaxy has been steadily expanding its presence across Europe and currently has operations in 21 out of the 25 EU member countries. The company is actively scouting for acquisition opportunities in Europe, though it lost out to Dr. Reddy's in the bid to acquire German company Betapharm. Ranbaxy had acquired the patent and rights to an auto-injector device along with manufacturing facilities from a US company. The company had raised $400 million early this year through an FCCB issue, which is expected to part-finance its acquisition plans. The company reported a net profit of Rs98 crore, or Rs2.63 per share, for the quarter ended December 2005 as against a loss of Rs10.77 crore for the September quarter. Total revenues increased to Rs889.94 crore from Rs870.23 crore. Ranbaxy has set an ambitious revenue target of $2 billion by the year 2007 and $5 billion by the year 2012.
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