BRATISLAVA, November 21, (WEBNOVINY) — Sanofi sold its Zentiva production plant in Hlohovec in western Slovakia. The new owner, Wood Pharma Holding, is a member of the Czech-Slovak investment group Wood & Company. It will obtain from Zentiva production equipment, personnel, and selected trademarks. „We consider the production plant in Hlohovec an extremely high quality asset with potential for further development,“ Wood & Company chief Lubomir Soltys commented the transaction. The sale of the plant in Hlohovec was already decided in October of last year, and the company has been negotiating with several interested parties since then.
Zentiva and Wood Pharma Holding at the same time concluded a contract on future cooperation, under which the new owner will be able to produce drugs for the concern for the next five years. „All the agreements should come into force in the coming months, provided that conditions precedent are met,“ said Sanofi spokeswoman Beata Kujanova.
Zentiva develops, manufactures, and sells branded generic pharmaceutical products. Last year it earned a taxed profit of EUR 7.55 million. Its sales in 2011 reached EUR 223.2 million on cost of EUR 148.2 million. In 2010, sales totaled EUR 214.8 million and cost were below EUR 87 million.
Wood Pharma Holding was registered in the Business Register in September of this year. Its sole shareholder is the investment group Wood & Company, which was founded in 1991 in the Czech Republic. Its business line is investment banking, securities trading and it owns several businesses. It also provides consultancy, it advised the previous government of Robert Fico in preparation of large PPP highway projects.
SITA