Dr Reddy’s, it is believed, is in the race for buying out US drug maker Bradley Pharmaceuticals Inc, which has been on the block for some time now.
US firm markets niche specialties for skin care treatment
HYDERABAD: Dr Reddy’s, it is believed, is in the race for buying out US drug maker Bradley Pharmaceuticals Inc, which has been on the block for some time now.
Two other companies, details of which are not known, are also said to be in the fray with non-binding bids to acquire the company, which had sales of $144 million last year. Founded in 1985 as a specialty pharmaceutical company, Bradley markets niche physician specialties in the US and international markets, particularly skin care treatments for acne and warts.
It has three subsidiary arms — Doak Dermatologics, which specialises in therapies for dermatology and podiatry, Kenwood Therapeutics, providing gastroenterology, respiratory and other internal medicine brands and A Aarons, which markets authorised generic versions of Doak and Kenwood medicines.
The company was in the news in May this year when a group led by Daniel Glassman, its founder and chief executive, made a $350 million, or $21.50 per share, buyout proposal to take the Nasdaq-listed firm private.
The valuation was 16.6% higher than the closing price on May 25. The scrip had closed at $18.54 per share on Thursday.
Subsequently, the company board set up a special committee of independent directors to consider the strategic alternatives, including the Glassman proposal, and retained Deutsche Bank Securities Inc as its independent financial advisor for the purpose.
Contrary to analyst expectations, Bradley reported a second-quarter loss of $1.67 million on August 9, compared to a profit of $4.56 million a year ago on a quarterly revenue of $32.2 million. This was down 13% from the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Interestingly, a day after the disappointing quarterly results, the special committee announced it had received non-binding buyout bids, believed by the market to be three in number, including one by Dr Reddy’s.
Dr Reddy’s officials refused to comment. In case Dr Reddy’s succeeds, it will be the second acquisition of a company with a significant presence in the dermatology space in the US by Dr Reddy’s. The first was the $11 million buyout of Trigenesis in 2004.
The acquisition gave Dr Reddy’s access to a series of dermatological drug delivery technologies developed by UK’s SkypePharma and SilvaFoam of the US, including the residual rights to three marketed products, rights to six pipeline products and six proprietary and complementary dermatological delivery technologies.
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