CERES PHARMA COMPLETES FIRST FOREIGN ACQUISITION

MERELBEKE, 4 October 2018 – Merelbeke-based Ceres Pharma, a fast-growing pharmaceutical company, active in healthcare & well-being OTC, has taken over the Hungarian firm, Ceumed kft (Central European Medical). This first foreign acquisition opens the door for Ceres Pharma to the Central and Eastern European market. "We had already for some time been looking for opportunities in this region, because it has a huge growth potential for our sector", says Mario Debel, CEO of Ceres Pharma. "With Ceumed, we found a company in Central Europe that is fully consistent with our philosophy and vision, and also complements the product range we want to distribute there." The price of the takeover will not be disclosed.

After a strong internal growth, Ceres Pharma saw its sales grew significantly since the end of July, when the company held by Marc Coucke and Mario Debel, acquired the range of women's health medicines from the listed company Mithra. This transaction resulted in Ceres Pharma's product portfolio being expanded by 25 medicines, including Deso, Noranelle, Louise, Anais, Daphne, Helen, Laclimella, etc. , thereby doubling its turnover. "Until recently, our turnover was generated mainly from Healthcare & Well-being products, such as Etixx, Flexipure, CalxPlus, X-Slim, Stresspure, Primrose, etc. The acquisition of Mithra's range meant that we also became the market leader in Belgium in the field of contraceptive and menopause products, but we also wanted to expand geographically," says CEO Mario Debel.

This expansion is now a fact with the acquisition of Ceumed in Hungary. Ceumed focuses primarily on personal care products for babies and young mothers. In recent years, the company has also become active as a distributor of pharmaceutical products in other categories, such as anti-lice products, dermatological care products, etc. Ceumed has its headquarters in Budapest (Hungary), but also has offices in five other central European countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania), where it employs 45 people.

Ildiko Balazsi is General Manager of Ceumed and will remain on board after the takeover. “We are particularly proud to be part of a bigger group, such as Ceres Pharma, with major ambitions in terms of growth and which has the same ethical values. Together, we are better positioned to drive the further development of innovative products, and expand further geographically in the region."

Mario Debel: "Ceumed's solid and extensive sales and marketing network will help us to introduce our own products in this region, where the market is experiencing double-digit annual growth. This ambitious partner ensures a whole range of synergies in our OTC and medicines portfolio, which makes this acquisition so special and unique."

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