Czech pharmaceutical giant begins acquisition spree

Zentiva, a Czech-Slovak generic drug manufacturer, announced plans to begin a series of acquisitions on the Polish market. "We are currently in talks with two small pharmaceutical companies," disclosed Petr Sulc, Zentiva's financial director, but he refused to reveal their names. The Polish pharmaceutical market appears as an attractive one for the investor, mainly thanks to projections which estimate that the market will grow at 30% annually, as compared to 5-10% in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Simultaneously the company is also looking to establish partnerships in Russia, Germany and Scandinavia. In Poland, Zentiva offers 16 of its products, but none in the OTC segment. The currently planned acquisitions in Poland are part of the company's strategy to widen its offer to the OTC segment, which is recognized as opportunistic for the fourth largest Eastern European drug producer. (Puls Biznesu, p. 5) A.K.