Mumbai: The Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma will acquire Apotex International's commercial operations across five European countries, including Poland and Spain, for 74 million euros or Rs 589 crore, in cash.

While Apotex is a Canadian pharmaceutical firm, the net sales of the acquired business stood at 133 million euros during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018.

As part of the deal, Aurobindo Pharma would acquire the commercial infrastructure, including personnel, products, marketing authorisations and dossier licence rights in Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands (including a manufacturing facility in Leiden), Spain and Belgium.

The acquisition is expected to be completed within 3-6 months of the signing date. Closing of the transaction is conditional on the receipt of competition clearances from the Dutch and the Polish authorities.

The acquisition will bring more than 200 prescription drugs and 88 over-the-counter (OTC) products to Aurobindo's European product portfolio. It will bring an additional pipeline of over 20 products which are expected to be launched over the next two years.

The deal will make Aurobindo one of the top 15 generic drug firms in Poland and the Czech Republic.

In Poland, Aurobindo expects, its sales to significantly rise, based on the brand name APO apart from a dedicated sales force covering physicians and the pharmacy network. It will also bring, an OTC offering in the Netherlands, which will see Aurobindo turning into a leading OTC company by volume.

In Belgium, the acquisition will provide Aurobindo an entry into the retail generics space, where it will become one of the top five players.

At present, Aurobindo is present in nine European countries - Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the UK and Romania.<>

Its current European business includes generic drugs and other segments supported by an established commercial and hospital sales infrastructure.

During the fiscal year ended March 2018, Aurobindo had sales in Europe of 577 million euros. The firm has now identified various areas for value creation and synergies from the proposed acquisition. Aurobindo plans to leverage the infrastructure of the acquired businesses to strengthen its commercial reach in various countries

"The acquisition announced today is in line with our strategy to grow and diversify our business in Europe. Acquiring Apotex businesses in these key five countries will allow us to expand our product offering, including OTC medicines in the Netherlands, and considerably strengthen our position in Eastern Europe," Aurobindo SVP of European Operations V. Muralidharan said on Saturday.

In 2014, Aurobindo had acquired Actavis's commercial operations in seven west European countries. Last year it acquired Portugal-based Generis Farmaceutica.