Blank-check firm Union Acquisition Corp II to buy LatAm's Procaps

Sofgen Pharma SA

31/03/2021 12:45

March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. blank-check company Union
Acquisition Corp II  LATN.O  on Wednesday said it will buy Latin
American softgel maker Procaps Group for an enterprise value of
$1.1 billion, the latest deal in Wall Street's SPAC acquisition
frenzy. 
    Procaps, founded in 1977 and based in Barranquilla,
Colombia, researches how to deliver medicines to patients
through different forms, like softgels, chewable medicines, or
by coating pills to make them taste more pleasant to patients.
    Union Acquisition Corp II said it raised $100 million in an
oversubscribed private investment in public equity, or PIPE,
transaction, providing additional funding to Procaps.
    The PIPE was raised from a group of Latin American and
healthcare investors, including funds such as Compass Group,
Moneda Asset Management and Consorcio Seguros.     
    The money will be used for organic growth, investing in new
product categories, and also for acquisitions of mid-sized
companies likely in pharmaceutical or contract development and
manufacturing organizations, Union Acquisition Corp II said.
    Other investors in Procaps include the World Bank's
International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Alejandro Weinstein,
who was previously chief executive of generic drugmaker CFR
Pharmaceuticals SA, which was bought by Abbott Laboratories in
2014. 
    Procaps is expected to have $436 million in gross revenue
and $105 million in adjusted core profit this year. 
    Reuters had exclusively reported earlier this month that
Procaps was in talks to go public on Nasdaq through a merger
with Union Acquisition Corp II.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2LD5BU
    Union Acquisition Corp II is the second SPAC led by Kyle
Bransfield, who expects Union Acquisition to launch more SPAC
IPOs and is in the process of raising its third, slightly
larger, SPAC at the moment.
    So-called special purpose acquisition company's (SPACs) are
listed shell companies that raise funds to acquire a private
company with the purpose of taking it public, allowing such
targets to sidestep a traditional initial public offering.    

 (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard
Orr)
 ((arathys.nair@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8780 (Extn 2726);
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArathySom;))