Piramal Enterprises to acquire Ash Stevens

Piramal Enterprises Limited wholly owned subsidiary in the US has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% stake in Ash Stevens Inc. a US based Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) in an all cash deal for a consideration of USD 42.95 Million plus an earn out consideration capped at $10 Million.

Ash Stevens has over 50 years of experience in contract manufacturing and serves several biotech, mid-size pharma, and large pharmaceuticals clients worldwide. With over 60,000 sq. ft. of facilities, eight chemical drug development and production laboratories, and six full scale production areas, Ash Stevens has built a stellar reputation, led by science, driven by operational excellence, and one that emphasizes quality as a culture.

Ash Stevens has an impeccable safety record of working with high potency anti-cancer agents and other highly potent therapeutics. The state of the art manufacturing facility in Michigan features all necessary engineering and containment controls for the safe handling and cGMP manufacture of small and large scale HPAPIs. Ash Stevens is well poised to become the partner of choice for clients looking to advance programs from early development through launch. 

GroupM in talks to acquire Foxymoron

GroupM is the world largest advertising media company in terms of billing. It was formed in 2003 by WPP Group to serve as the parent company of WPP media agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, and Vocanic. It handles over 32% of the world media billings making it the world largest media investment management operation. Foxymoron was started in 2008 as a summer project between four friends and turned into a digital media and marketing company.

Global media firm GroupM is in talks to acquire Foxymoron for about $30 Million, as it seeks to establish dominant position in India. If the deal becomes successful then it will be the latest buyout transaction in the nascent, but fast growing Indian Digital, social media, and marketing sector. Global Media giant JWT is also scouting for potential acquisitions in the space.

Foxymoron provides an across the board range of services, including, end to end digital services, including design and development and social media services. The potential transaction is part of GroupM strategy to establish an even stronger footprint in the country, where it already has a dominant presence. India’s online advertising market is poised to exceed Rs 3500 crore in revenue in 2015.

Spend on video ads will grow at a compounded annual rate of 56% while contributing 12% to the overall market share of digital advertisements. The principal sources of acceleration in 2015 are China, where GroupM predicts ad growth will get back on track to just fewer than 10%, the US, forecast to pick up to 3.9, the Brazil, the UK, Japan and India. Acquisitions have been an important growth strategy for GroupM, which also acquired Chinese Social media agency Teein last year.