Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said today it will acquire PreCision Dermatology in an up-to-$500 million deal the buyer said would strengthen its portfolio by adding to it a wide range of additional medical dermatology treatments for a number of topical disease states such as acne and atopic dermatitis.
Valeant said it will acquire PreCision for $475 million up front, plus an additional $25 million tied to an undisclosed sales-based milestone, in a deal expected to close in the first half of 2014. Valeant said it expects the acquisition, once completed, to immediately add to its cash earnings per share.
PreCision—which is projecting 2014 revenues of about $130 million—develops and markets dermatology products that include Locoid, Hylatopic, Clindagel, and BenzEFoam. Headquartered in Cumberland, RI, PreCision has about 175 employees and operates in two key segments: Onset Dermatologics, which focuses on prescription therapies, and PrecisionMD®, which focuses on physician-dispensed products.
“PreCision’s diversified portfolio of products enjoys high physician loyalty, premium product quality, and lifecycle management opportunities that will enhance our future growth strategies. We believe this acquisition will strengthen Valeant’s product portfolio and solidify our position as a leader in dermatology,” J. Michael Pearson, Valeant’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Headquartered in Laval, QC, Valeant develops, manufactures, and markets a broad range of pharmaceutical products, primarily in dermatology, eye health, neurology, and branded generics.
“The combined resources of both companies will create a strengthened competitor, poised to contend with the leading companies in the dermatology market,” added Bob Moccia, PreCision’s CEO.
PreCision is the latest in a string of 34 acquisitions since 2010 for Valeant, which aims to grow into a top-five biopharma in terms of market capitalization by the end of 2016. That would entail a market cap of more than $150 million, toward which Valeant is almost one-third of the way; its market cap was calculated at $45.19 billion this morning by Yahoo Finance. Valeant has been the subject of talk by analysts that its best route to expansion would be through a merger with either Actavis or Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, according to Bloomberg.
On January 23, Valeant completed its previous acquisition, buying medical aesthetic device maker Solta Medical for about $250 million. Last year, Valeant became an eyecare giant after it acquired Bausch+Lomb for $8.7 billion, and it continued to grow its skincare business by snapping up Obagi Medical Products for about $343.7 million.
And in 2012, Valeant shelled out $2.6 billion for Medicis Pharmaceutical, also with an expanded skincare business in mind.
