SIF Muntenia buys another 18.7% stake in Romanian drug maker Biofarm Bucuresti for EUR 14 million

SIF Muntenia (SIF4), a Romanian investment company that manages assets of over EUR 225 million, bought an 18.7 percent stake in pharmaceutical company Biofarm Bucuresti for a total of RON 62.6 million (EUR 14 million), following a takeover offer. The transaction took place on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, on Monday, May 5. SIF Muntenia already had a 33 percent stake in Biofarm, which it bought in October 2013, while SIF Banat-Crisana (SIF1), another Romanian investment company, held another 21.2 percent stake. SIF Banat-Crisana indirectly controls SIF Muntenia and this is why the Romanian Financial Supervision Authority (ASF) recommended a public takeover offering for the shares they didn’t own in Biofarm. The two investment firms now own about 73 percent of the company. The latest transaction values Biofarm at around EUR 75 million, which is 2.8 times the company’s sales for 2014 (about EUR 26.9 million) and 13 times its net income (some EUR 5.8 million). Biofarm produces mostly OTC drugs and food supplements. Some of its main brands are Hepatoprotect and Colebil, for the digestive system, and Cavit vitamins. Biofarm also owns a piece of land close to Piata Victoriei in Bucharest which it may sell this year. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com