Aspen Pharmacare, Africa's biggest generic drugmaker, said on Thursday it had secured a 3.4 billion euro ($4 billion) credit facility for refinancing debt at three of its subsidiaries.
Aspen, which has operations in 50 countries, said the facilities were 70 percent oversubscribed and would be used for Aspen Finance, Pharmacare Limited t/a Aspen Pharmacare and Aspen Asia Pacific. It did not provide further details.
The drugmaker has been expanding rapidly outside its home base of South Africa, where a heavily regulated pharmaceuticals market has put a cap on growth.
Aspen, which in March reported a 26 percent rise in first-half earnings helped by its therapeutic focused brands, said it had secured the revolving credit facility from 28 banks internationally. It is structured across the euro, the South African rand and the Australian dollar with tenors of two to four years and a one-year extension option.
The firm makes branded and generic pharmaceutical products, as well as infant nutritional and consumer healthcare products.
- Reuters
