South African pharmaceutical giant Adcock-Ingram has paid a huge premium to buy out Indian firm Cosme Pharma in the hope of gaining more access to markets in India. Adcock financial director Andy Hall conceded that his company had paid more than 13 times last year’s profit of Cosme for the acquisition. Hall said they were not dissuaded by the fact that there are more than 5,000 drug manufacturers in India. “Cosme is not an unsubstantiated player in that market, ranked just outside the top 50 in a market where there are 5,000 drug companies. It certainly shows some of the brand equity they have built up over the past 40 years,” he said.
