Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc (WPI.N) has acquired privately held generic drug developer Specifar Pharmaceuticals SA for $562 million in cash to expand its presence in Europe. The deal for Greece-based Specifar broadens Watson's generic drug sales in Europe after establishing a foothold in the region with its 2009 acquisition of Arrow Group. Watson shares rose 1.5 percent in morning trading on Wednesday after the company announced the deal, which Watson said would immediately add to its 2011 earnings. "It provides us with additional commercial capacity for our European businesses," Watson Chief Executive Officer Paul Bisaro said in an interview. "We got the beachhead established but now we needed the firepower to go out and expand that beachhead, and that's what this does."
Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Watson) is an integrated global pharmaceutical company engaged in the development, manufacturing, marketing, sale and distribution of generic and brand pharmaceutical products. Shares of WPI traded higher by 1.41% or $0.87/share to $62.71. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $39.34 and as high as $63.85. On average, 1160280 shares of WPI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 615000.
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