A Powerful Investment Alliance of Aztiq and Innobic Acquires Alvogen’s Shares in Lotus and Adalvo in a US$475m Deal

The Consortium jointly, through Aztiq II HoldCo, will acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Markets Holdings Limited, thereby becoming the leading shareholders in Lotus Pharmaceuticals and Adalvo

The Consortium’s collective industry experience, geographical reach, and commitment to sustainable development, creates a unique alliance of investors and leaders, with the financial strength to support the companies continued development.

Róbert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen and Founder of Aztiq, will continue as Chairman of the board of Lotus and Adalvo.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Iceland based healthcare investor, Aztiq (“Aztiq”), founded by Alvogen’s Chairman and CEO, Róbert Wessman and Innobic Asia (“Innobic”), a wholly-owned Life Science arm of PTT Public Company Limited (“PTT”, SET ticker: PTT), Thailand’s largest publicly traded conglomerate, have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Market Holdings Limited (“AEMH”) from Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl (“Alvogen”). Key shareholders in Alvogen include CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) and Temasek Holdings of Singapore (“Temasek”), as well as Aztiq. The total transaction value is estimated to be approximately US$475 million, and the deal is expected to close during the first quarter 2022.

With this transaction the consortium becomes the leading shareholder in the global oncology pharmaceutical company Lotus Pharmaceuticals (“Lotus”, TWSE ticker: 1795), and the owner of 100% shares in Alvogen Malta (Out-Licensing) Holding Ltd., shareholder of the fast-growing global business to business (B2B) pharmaceutical company Adalvo.

Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl will remain a leading shareholder in the generics pharmaceutical company Alvogen US, including specialty pharma company Almatica, as well as being the second largest shareholder in global biosimilar company Alvotech.

Róbert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen and Founder of Aztiq, will continue to serve as Chairman of the board of Lotus and Adalvo.

Róbert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen/ Founder of Aztiq, commented: “I am very proud to have witnessed the maturation of both Lotus and Adalvo. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the existing shareholders for their great support in transformation and at the same time I would like to welcome our new partner as we look forward to carrying out the essential work of expanding access to medicines with strong expertise collectively by all parties. With the comprehensive geographic networks and solid market intelligence in ASEAN brought by PTT and Innobic, I believe that Lotus and Adalvo will have a compelling competitive advantage, which enables them to become global leaders in the pharma industry.”

Tomas Ekman, Director of the Board, Alvogen Lux Holding Sarl commented: After seven years as the lead shareholder of Lotus and the broader Asian business, Alvogen concluded that now is the right time to monetize our investment and letting Aztiq and Innobic continue the journey Lotus is on. Both Adalvo and Lotus will continue to collaborate closely with the Alvogen group of companies. Today’s announcement is consistent with Alvogen’s strategic focus and we intend to deploy the proceeds from the transaction in line with our capital allocation priorities to maximize shareholder value.

Dr. Buranin Rattanasombat, Senior Executive Vice President, Innovation and New Ventures, PTT and Chairman of Innobic (Asia), commented: “This partnership will accelerate our goal and enable Innobic to leap into being a fully integrated pharmaceutical company. By being the major shareholder in Lotus jointly with Aztiq, Innobic will have access to the capability of operating a full suite of pharmaceutical business, ranging from research, development, and formulation to production and commercialization, with a primary focus on generic drugs covering a wide range of therapeutic areas, in particular, oncology and central nervous system. The strengthened access to high quality medicines, together with the global networks and commercialization capability of Adalvo, and Innobic’s support to further expand the pharmaceutical businesses in the ASEAN and globally, make this investment fully in line with the goals and strategies for realizing life science business in Thailand and the ASEAN.”

Alvogen acquired a majority stake in Lotus in 2014 and together with its shareholders, Lotus has evolved into a next generation pharmaceuticals company focused on global oncology with direct market access in more than 10 countries in Asia and global reach of its portfolio to over 130 markets.

Alvogen has further developed Adalvo in 2018 from an in-house B2B platform into a separate business unit focusing on global markets. In a short period of time, Adalvo has achieved a remarkable growth with over 500 transactions and a world class portfolio of 60 differentiated medicines and is currently one of the fastest growing B2B pharmaceutical company globally, serving its partners and patients in over 100 markets around the world.

In April of 2021, Innobic invested approximately US$50 million into Lotus by acquiring newly-issued shares via a private placement. Both parties, Lotus and Innobic, are committed to further collaboration with the aim of expanding access to high quality medicines. Further participation by Innobic, through its investment in AEMH, demonstrates both a strong belief in the Lotus strategy as well as a commitment to drive opportunities in South East Asian pharmaceutical markets including Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.

About Aztiq

Aztiq is a long-term healthcare investor led by Alvogen’s and Alvotech’s Founder and Chairman Róbert Wessman. Aztiq whose key investment focus is on pharmaceutical assets, is currently a leading and co-leading shareholder and operator of the following pharmaceutical assets:

Lotus Pharmaceuticals – A leading global oncology pharmaceutical company (www.lotuspharm.com)

Adalvo – Global B2B pharmaceutical company, serving its partners and patients in over 100 markets worldwide (www.adalvo.com)

Alvotech – A global biosimilar company (www.alvotech.com)

Alvogen US / Almatica – US generics (Gx) and Specialty Pharmaceutical company. (www.alvogenus.com / www.almatica.com)

Established in 2009, Aztiq was founded on the principle that everyone should have the right to medicine, regardless of their financial means.

Róbert Wessman, has led over 50 strategic acquisitions and partnerships and established operations in over 60 countries. Wessman, alongside his seasoned team in Aztiq, continues to successfully launch and scale both industry-leading generic pharmaceutical and biosimilar companies all over the world.

About Innobic

Innobic is a Thailand-based Life Science Platform with primary focus on South East Asia, while reaching global opportunities. Innobic is a wholly owned subsidiary of PTT Public Company Ltd, the state-owned enterprise and the largest company by market capitalization on Thailand Stock Exchange. Being a national energy provider as well as multinational conglomerate, recently diversifies into new sectors, including Life Science, Renewables, and Electricity value chain. PTT currently has consolidated group revenues of over US$60 billion and market value US$33 billion.

PTT established Innobic to become a leading Life Science Platform in ASEAN with a primary focus on Pharmaceuticals, Medical Technology and Nutrition businesses. The investment in Lotus as well as close partnership with Aztiq will support that objective. (www.innobicasia.com)

About Lotus

Founded in 1966, Lotus (1795: TT) now is a leading Asian based pharmaceutical company with global reach to provide high-value generic products covering CNS, CVS, women health, and anti-obesity drugs in tablets and hard/softgel capsule with a special focus on oral oncology for global markets.

By boasting a best-in-class R&D and manufacturing platform in Asia, Lotus aims to benefit patients, its employees and stakeholders. Furthermore, Lotus can reach nearly every global market with its high value pipeline through its direct markets, currently encompassing Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, and China, or via alliances with top-tier pharma companies based on its industry-leading infrastructure certified by most of the advanced regulatory authorities around the world, including US FDA, EU EMA, Japan PDMA, China FDA, and Brazil ANVISA.

Lotus has also delivered outstanding financial results since Alvogen’s majority investment in 2014. It has achieved over 25% CAGR of net sales and over 40% CAGR of EBITDA during the past seven years, and is expected to continue the growth momentum with major launches in global markets in the next 12 months.

About Adalvo

Founded in 2018, Adalvo is a leading global B2B pharmaceutical company serving a global list of top tier partners and patients with its differentiated, high-value portfolio. The Company’s 3-pillar portfolio strategy, covering small molecules, value-added products, and peptides & biosimilars, positions Adalvo as a unique platform among its peers. Adalvo has established itself as a reliable global partner with commercial partnerships in more than 100 countries and currently serving over 90 partners globally.

Adalvo’s brand promise is to be “Always on Target” for its partners and patients.