EBRD, partners acquire Egypt’s Adwia Pharmaceuticals

CAIRO – 16 November 2020: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced Monday the acquisition with other partners of Egypt’s Adwia Pharmaceuticals company with total worth of $250 million.

EBRD clarified in a statement that this acquisition is to improve the availability and affordability of medicines, using an investment platform with an initial capital commitment of $250 million.

“It is committing $75 million to support the company’s growth in Egypt, alongside Development Partners International (DPI), a pan-African private equity firm which is committing $75 million, and CDC Group, a development finance institution funded by the UK government, with $100 million commitment,” the bank added.

According to the statement, as a first step for the investment platform the partners have acquired Adwia Pharmaceuticals, an Egyptian manufacturer of generic drugs, and Celon Laboratories, an Indian oncology and critical-care product specialist.

It noted that Adwia will benefit from Celon’s know-how in drug development, including for chronic and life-threatening health conditions.

It added that this investment will also help Adwia Pharmaceuticals to expand and modernise its manufacturing assets, introduce products with higher added value and improve its health and safety standards, product quality and governance in Egypt.

Moreover, founding shareholders plan to increase their impact by further expanding the investment platform’s activities, according to the statement.

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of the bank’s operations in 2012, the EBRD has invested over €7 billion in 125 projects in the country.