Eastern Europe's largest pharmaceutical company is born

"The tie-up will create the largest pharmaceutical company from Vladivostok to Warsaw," beamed a triumphant Jerzy Starak, the billionaire investor and Polpharma's owner. The combined entity will be the world's fifteenth biggest producer of generic drugs with a market capitalization of USD 5.3 billion. As part of the deal, Starak will receive a 25% stake in the Hungarian company and will become deputy-chairman of its board. Starak stressed his involvement in the new GR was for the long term. "We will be the number one player in Russia, number two in Poland and number three in Hungary," he said. "There is little overlap in their product portfolios so they will not cannibalize but complement each other," said Barbara Janosi, analyst at KBC securities in Budapest. Shares in GR, which is listed in Budapest, soared by 7% on the news. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6, 7; Parkiet, p. 2, 3) R.M.