Brazil's Eurofarma acquires Labs Gautier of Uruguay; EU clears Merck KGaA $7.2 billion buy of Millipore

Brazilian generic drugmaker Eurofarma has further expanding its reach across Latin American market with the acquisition of Laboratorios Gautier - Uruguay's seventh largest pharmaceutical company, which also has a presence in Paraguay and Bolivia, reported the Corporatefinancingweek. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This acquisition represents Eurofarma's ambitious plans to be present in 95% of the Latin American market by completing at least one acquisition per year. The firm's impressive sales growth of 22% in 2009 has been attributed to its strategy to produce low-cost generics targeted at the large proportion of populations outside main capital cities, while multinational companies focus their sales force solely on the large consumption centers.

Eurofarma's expansion across Latin America began in 2009, when it completed the acquisition of a controlling 95% stake in Argentinean drugmaker Quesada Farmaceutica, noted Decision News Media SAS.