Alliance Pharma plc is an AIM listed pharmaceutical company specialising in the acquisition and licensing of branded pharmaceutical products. Over recent years Alliance have been looking to expand their product and geographical reach in order to enhance the scale and profile of the business.
The acquisition of the dermatology-focused healthcare products business of Sinclair IS Pharma plc was therefore seen as an ideal opportunity, as it would substantially increase the scale and international foot print of Alliance, and provide an enhanced platform for further growth.
Having worked closely with Alliance's management team on a number of previous transactions we were ideally placed to help them achieve their goals.
Alliance acquired the business from Sinclair IS Pharma plc for £127.5 million and, due to the size of the transaction, underwent a reverse acquisition process and was re-admitted to AIM on 17 December 2015.
In order to fund the Transaction Alliance Pharma raised £83.5 million through a vendor placing on AIM and negotiated new enlarged banking facilities of up to £100 million with Bank of Scotland plc, National Westminster Bank plc and Silicon Valley Bank.
We acted as reporting accountants to Alliance on this important acquisition, providing Alliance and their lenders with financial and tax due diligence on the healthcare products business, as well as tax advisory, valuation and debt advisory services.
We provided Alliance with an integrated advisory solution to support them with the acquisition and placing.
Our engagement team provided proactive support and advice to Alliance throughout the deal process, to enable the transaction to be completed within a particularly challenging timetable.
It was a big team effort involving many people, inside and out of Alliance. I’d like to thank you all at Grant Thornton for your proactive support and helping make this acquisition happen.
Andrew Franklin Chief Financial Officer, Alliance Pharma plc
