Asters Advises Sopharma on Acquisition of the Ukrainian Vitaminy

Asters advised Sopharma AD, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Bulgaria, on the issues of Ukrainian merger control law, in relation to acquisition of majority shareholding in Ukrainian pharmaceutical factory OJSC "Vitaminy".

The transaction involved acquisition of the controlling stake from a group of Vitaminy's principal shareholders as well as buy-out of the second largest stake from a portfolio investor, which helped Sopharma to overcome investor's negative control over the company. Asters' legal support included due diligence of Vitaminy, obtaining of merger clearance from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, as well as transactional work in both stages of the deal.

OJSC "Vitaminy" is among top twenty biggest pharmaceutical companies in Ukraine with the portfolio of more than 60 products. The acquisition is aligned to Sopharma's expansion strategy and aims at strengthening its position in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish markets.

Partners Oleksandr Padalka and Igor Svechkar led the Asters team, assisted by associates Illya Onyschenko, Anna Chornomorets and Tetiana Buchko.

Commenting, Igor Svechkar said: "The deal was quite a challenge for our team as the client entrusted to us not only the legal job but also some management aspects of the project. We enjoyed certain degree of discretion negotiating the transaction and, naturally, greater responsibility for the outcome".