Amneal to Acquire Majority Interest in AvKARE

Amneal Pharmaceuticals and AvKARE have entered into a definitive agreement under which Amneal will acquire a 65.1% majority interest in AvKARE and its related affiliate doing business as R&S Northeast (collectively, "AvKARE") for an implied enterprise value of $340 million. Following the close of the transaction, AvKARE will operate on a standalone basis as an independent subsidiary of Amneal.

AvKARE is one of the largest private label providers of generic pharmaceuticals in the U.S. federal agency sector, primarily focused on serving the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The company utilizes its relationships with more than 50 generic pharmaceutical vendors to offer a proprietary line of specially packaged products under its own labels.

"When we re-joined Amneal as Co-CEOs in August, we outlined a vision for our long-term strategy," said Amneal Co-Founders and Co-Chief Executive Officers Chirag Patel and Chintu Patel. "While we remain extremely focused on organic growth, we also recognized that M&A would be a key element of our growth story, and that we would pursue the right opportunities that strategically fit our business. And we articulated what we would look for: opportunities to complement our existing distribution network, provide us with defensible, durable revenue streams and, ultimately, earnings that are accretive to ours. The AvKARE transaction meets all of these criteria, and we are excited about the value we expect it will create for patients, shareholders and other stakeholders."

"We are pleased to enter into this transaction with Amneal, a leading provider of affordable medicines to federal agencies and one of our long-term business partners," said Steve Shirley, Chief Executive Officer of R&S Northeast and Executive Vice President of AvKARE. "We look forward to working with our entire network of vendor partners, as well as our customers at both the VA and DoD, and will continue to identify new opportunities in which we can better serve government agencies. In addition, we will continue to retain a large ownership interest in AvKARE and manage operations with our existing leadership team as an independent subsidiary of Amneal. We look forward to continuing to utilize our expertise in supplying affordable generic pharmaceuticals to federal agencies through our diverse vendor portfolio, and could not be more passionate about entering the next chapter of our company’s growth."

Together with AvKARE, Amneal will build upon its existing presence in the large and growing VA and DoD generics market. AvKARE is the second largest VA and DoD generic pharmaceutical reseller in the country, and its dedicated focus on the federal sector has made it a premier partner for more than 50 generic manufacturers seeking efficient access to the federal market. In addition, this transaction underscores the existing and future potential of Amneal’s robust U.S. manufacturing base, which enables the sale of products to U.S. government partners.

For the twelve-month period ended October 31, 2019, AvKARE’s unaudited consolidated EBITDA was approximately $63 million. Following the close of the transaction, AvKARE’s financial results will be consolidated in Amneal’s GAAP financials, and the transaction will be immediately accretive to Amneal’s earnings and free cash flow. On a consolidated basis, the transaction is expected to reduce Amneal’s Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio.

Under the terms of the transaction, Amneal will acquire its majority interest through an unrestricted subsidiary, which will finance the purchase of AvKARE with a new $180 million senior secured term loan facility, approximately $75 million of balance sheet cash and an approximately $44 million Seller Note, with the balance of the implied enterprise value contributed through the selling shareholders’ rollover interest in the newly formed subsidiary. The new debt financing will be secured by the newly formed unrestricted subsidiary and will not impact Amneal’s existing term loan facility.

The contributed rollover interest will be retained by the Shirley family, AvKARE’s founders, who will continue to independently manage the operations of the business. Mr. Shirley will continue to lead the business and will report to Chirag Patel.

The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and approval from relevant regulatory agencies, including clearance under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

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