Drugmaker Perrigo To Buy Héra For $2.1B

Perrigo, a pharmaceutical company, has agreed to buy Héra for €1.8 billion (US$2.1 billion), in a merger that would help cement Perrigo’s shift to focus on nonprescription drugs.

The all-cash acquisition of Héra would extend Dublin-based Perrigo’s presence in sales of blister-care, scar-care and women’s-health products. Héra, now co-owned by Astorg Partners, a private-equity firm, and by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, sells skin treatments such as Compeed and Mederma. It also makes ellaOne, an emergency contraceptive.

Buying Héra could boost Perrigo’s sales-growth trajectory and push along its transition to a deeper emphasis on nonprescription treatments, Chief Executive Murray Kessler said. Perrigo estimated on Wednesday, September 8, that the acquisition would add about €400 million, and about US$1 a share to its adjusted earnings in fiscal 2023.

The Héra acquisition “is a trade for what was volatile and declining earnings to growing extremely high-quality earnings,” Mr. Kessler said.

Héra gets a small portion of its revenue from prescription drugs. About 15% of Héra’s sales come from prescription products that treat rare diseases, Perrigo stated.

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