Global veterinary pharmaceutical giant Virbac has announced the acquisition of a further 15 per cent in Centrovet, the leader of the animal health market in Chile.
Virbac which first acquired a 51 per cent stake in the Chilean animal vaccine producer in 2012, had announced in 2017 that it was deferring its option to acquire the remaining shares (49 per cent) at equivalent financial terms.
This latest transaction, a further 15 per cent at a cost of US$17.7 million, brings Virbac’s total stake in the vaccine producer to 66 per cent and consolidates the company’s position as a key player in products used for protection and treatment in aquaculture.
Virbac was founded in 1968 by a French veterinarian and became the first independent company to focus exclusively on animal health. As of 2020, the company is the 6th largest veterinarian pharmaceutical group in the world with a turnover of €948 million.
Sébastien Huron, main government officer at Virbac said: “With this acquisition, we are consolidating our posture in this promising current market and strategic aquaculture phase for our Team (Chile getting the world’s next biggest producer of salmon). Centrovet, thanks to its industrial footprint and R&D infrastructures, presents us a real aggressive edge in the Chilean aquaculture market. With a hugely engaged crew, we have the ambition to more provide progressive solutions and answers to the local sector and to look for for more synergies on the R&D and manufacturing sides among the cold and warm-water fish segments.”
Based in Santiago, Chile, Centrovet was founded in 1979. The company employs around 300 people. Its industrial facilities manufacture a broad range of injectable and oral vaccines, pharmaceutical specialty products and nutritional additives. The company is a major player in aquaculture health, with products for cold water aquaculture, in particular in the field of salmon and trout vaccines. In addition to injectable vaccines, the company has developed and introduced to the aquaculture market proprietary oral delivery technologies for vaccines.
