Potential merger partners act on A$375m pharma company sale

Herbert Smith has taken a lead role opposite potential merger partner Freehills on the A$375m (£254m) sale of Australian pharma company Ascent Pharmahealth to US company Watson Pharmaceuticals.

Herbert Smith advised the majority seller, Indian pharma company Strides Arcolab, a new client for the firm, with a team led by City corporate partner Alan Montgomery (pictured) alongside tax partner Isaac Zailer and intellectual property partner Joel Smith.

Meanwhile, Freehills advised Watson with a team led by Melbourne corporate partner Brendan Earle and Singapore banking partner Geoffrey Grice.

Fellow Australian law firm Middletons took the lead role for Ascent with a team led by Melbourne corporate partner John Mann.

The deal, which closed last month, has seen Watson acquire Strides' 94% stake in Ascent as well as the remaining 6% owned by the company's founder and chief executive, Dennis Bastas, elevating Watson to the fifth-largest generic pharmaceutical company in Australia.

Montgomery said: "This was a very high-pressured deal with some challenging time constraints, so it was great to see it all completed so successfully. Strides is a new client for the firm and we're extremely pleased to have added another listed and significant Indian corporate to our portfolio. To be acting on this kind of cross-border M&A deal in the current economic climate is a good sign and testimony to the importance of having a strong international platform to work from."

Herbert Smith last week officially confirmed to its staff that it is in "exploratory talks" with Freehills over a merger, with senior partner Jonathan Scott describing the potential deal as an "interesting opportunity". The proposed tie-up could go live as early as 
1 July this year.