AMRI announces Excelsyn acquisition

AMRI (NASDAQ: AMRI) today announced the acquisition of Excelsyn Ltd., a well recognized leader in providing chemical development and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical industry in Europe. Located in Holywell, North Wales, UK, Excelsyn has 60 employees and generated revenue of $15 million in 2009.

“We are pleased to add these scientific and technical capabilities and talent to our menu of chemical development and manufacturing services”

Excelsyn provides development and large scale manufacturing services to large pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Manufacturing services include pre-clinical and Phase I – III product development as well as commercial manufacturing services for approved products. The 24/7 operation is focused on providing rapid response solutions using an innovative model for accelerated product changeovers in the plant.

The acquisition of Excelsyn expands AMRI’s portfolio of development and large scale manufacturing facilities as well as its customer portfolio, with little overlap of customers between the two companies. The proximity of Excelsyn’s business to European customers has been an important factor in these customers’ decisions to award business to Excelsyn.

Under the terms of the agreement, AMRI has purchased all of the outstanding shares of Excelsyn for approximately $19 million in cash. Besides gaining an expanded presence in Europe and the U.K., AMRI gains a significant cost competitive option for conducting development/manufacturing work, particularly in the production of chemical intermediates.

The 14-acre site is located approximately 60 miles outside of Manchester, England and contains Kilo lab, pilot plant and large scale manufacturing capabilities.

AMRI Chairman and CEO Thomas E. D’Ambra, Ph.D. said, “The acquisition of Excelsyn further builds out AMRI’s global continuum spanning the U.S., Asia and Europe, and is a significant milestone in its strategy to continue to expand our services platform and global footprint. AMRI remains committed to generating significant value from this segment of our business. We believe this acquisition will increase our ability to penetrate a market space relatively untapped to date, including customers in large pharma based in Europe. This acquisition also enhances our ability to offer lower cost solutions at a time when cost has been become a major factor in outsourcing decisions being made, particularly in the large pharmaceutical sector.”

“We are pleased to add these scientific and technical capabilities and talent to our menu of chemical development and manufacturing services,” said Dr. Steve Hagen, AMRI Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing. “Besides gaining a number of established customer relationships, we anticipate greater success in increasing our current European customer base by being able to perform work in close proximity to companies previously reluctant to work with a long distance provider.” Dr. Hagen continued, “We anticipate the time to transition to be minimal given the close alignment of company cultures, with a focus on the highest quality, customer service and commitment to excellence. We are excited to have this organization become part of the AMRI family.”

Excelsyn CEO Ian Shott said, “We are excited to be joining the AMRI team. The similarities in both operations and company cultures create an even more compelling reason for our customers to continue to partner with the combined organization as their outsourcing provider of choice. We will continue to provide the high quality services and products Excelsyn has built its reputation on, and we can now offer the expanded technologies, locations and cost structures that make AMRI the leader in the provision of integrated contract outsourcing.”

The acquired Excelsyn site will be managed by Dr. David Rowles as General Manager, Holywell Operations, who will report to Dr. Hagen. Dr. Rowles has been Chief Operating Officer at the site since it became Excelsyn in 2004. Mr. Shott has accepted a consulting relationship and will continue to assist with customer relationships for the U.K. site and also work with AMRI’s business development team to build further relationships for all of AMRI’s locations with potential customers in Europe.

Peroxident Ltd. acted as financial advisor to AMRI.