Monograph of coproduction companies : Opalia Pharma - Recordati

Published : Thursday 03 March 2016

For the study of the Mediterranean Coproduction Observatory dedicated to Tunisia’s potential as to the development of coproduction, released in March 2016, several monographs of European companies involved in coproduction operations with Tunisian companies, and vice versa, were created.  Hereafter, IPEMED presents the monograph of the Tunisian company Opalia Pharma, involved in a coproduction operation with the Italian company Recordati.

 

Opalia Pharma – Recordati : Tunisia as a regional base

Opalia Pharma is a pharmaceutical company created in Tunisia in 1988 in view of developing a production unit of antiseptic products as well as a production activity of generic medicines. Opalia Pharma remained in the hands of its two Tunisian associates for a long time. Then, in 2010, they sold 33% of the company’s capital to the investment fund Abraaz. Three years later, in 2013, the Italian group RECORDATI, listed on the Milan stock exchange, bought 90% of the shares of Opalia Pharma, the social capital of which increased from DNT 45,000 in 1988 to DNT 8 million in 2013.

 

Year of establishment

1998. Purchase of 90% of the capital by the group Recordati in 2013.

Global turnover (2014)

€987.4 million

Turnover in Tunisia (2014)

€50 million (5%)

Global headcount

4,000

Tunisian headcount

400 (10%)

Other host countries

Italy, Turkey, France, Spain, Germany (and Luxembourg, Portugal, Brazil, United States, Ireland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Mexico)

Foreign capital

90%

 

Opalia Pharma is the 4th company for the production and marketing of generic medicines in Tunisia. Since the pharmaceutical market is quite fragmented, Opalia holds 5% of the Tunisian market shares and relies on one production plant established in Kalaat al-Andalus (Ariana governorate). Opalia Pharma progressively turned to exportation. Today, it accounts for 18% of its sales and is mostly destined to the Middle East and Francophone Western Africa.

 

Opalia Pharma as a strategic regional base of the group Recordati.

Even though Opalia Pharma did not have a major position on the Tunisian market, the company had a strong position as well as promising regional perspectives. What the Italian group Recordati was trying to achieve through this acquisition was clear: developing a logistic platform in North Africa and the Middle East, as the group was only present on these markets from Turkey. As for Opalia Pharma, the company is willing to take advantage of this partnership to internationalise its activities and raise its exportations up to 30% of sales over the next few years.

Thus, Recordati and Opalia Pharma cooperate in a coproduction approach that takes different forms. The main aspect of this win-win partnership is the investment of Recordati in the human resources of Opalia Pharma. On the one hand, Recordati invests in a serious skill and expertise transfer in many fields: technical (production of new pharmaceuticals, including brand medicines), management (management budgetary techniques) as well as marketing (medical strategy). On the other hand, Recordati focuses on the development of career plans and on the internationalisation of Tunisian teams.

Recordati also makes greenfield investments, such as the investment of €7 million made since 2013, dedicated to the extension of a plant to produce in-house what used to be sub-contracted. The two entities also intend to develop research and development activities in Tunisia for the benefit of Opalia Pharma but also for the group Recordati, at the international scale.

However, this investment was not achieved without difficulties. The first obstacle concerned the administrative procedures during acquisition. Six months were necessary to get the permission of the Higher Investment Council (CSI). Besides, the company development is slightly below expectations, especially in terms of job creation. This is due to (i) the Tunisian pharmaceutical market, which is quite fragmented and extremely competitive and (ii) to the sector regulations demanding a two-to-three-year period to get export certifications and authorisations.

Thanks to the purchase of 90% of the shares of Opalia Pharma, the group Recordati strengthens the former by creating jobs, investing in new activities and human resources and by acquiring new certifications for the site. At the same time, the group Recordati can conquer new markets at the regional scale.

 

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