In one of the biggest corporate take-overs to date, the UK-owned Glaxo Wellcome Egypt has acquired rival drugs firm Amoun Pharmaceuticals Industries for E 400 million ($117.6 million). The deal is expected to increase Glaxo Wellcome’s share of the estimated $1,000 million domestic market to 9 per cent from 6 per cent.

The only investment bank involved in the deal was EFG-Hermes, which acted as adviser to Amoun. The sale involves a 90.5 per cent stake held by the Bassily family and 9.5 per cent publicly held. Glaxo Wellcome will also acquire domestic and export rights to 30 Amoun generic products, as well as the company’s Cairo plant, which adjoins a facility owned by the UK firm.

Analysts say the Bassily family decided to sell because they judged that their market share in the 30 products sold to be unsustainable. The family will now concentrate on other veterinary and human medicines produced by another company they set up alongside Amoun.