SPE Capital Partners has acquired Saham Pharma, an antibiotics manufacturer and major hospital provider in Morocco, alongside Proparco as a minority investor.

Samuel Touboul, Senior Investment Officer at Proparco, said: “We are very proud to support, under the leadership of SPE Capital, Saham Pharma and more generally the development of the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors in Morocco, which we believe are key to the development of the country.”

“Saham Pharma is a historical player of the pharmaceutical sector, with high impact on the Moroccan population, and we have full confidence in its talented management and employees to further provide high quality medicine and treatments in Morocco and abroad.”

The acquisition constitutes the fourth transaction executed through SPE AIF I, a $200m Africa-focused private equity fund closed in 2019.

It is the second direct equity investment of Proparco within the healthcare sector of Morocco, following the investment in ODM group in 2018 (hospitals and diagnosis clinics).

Nabil Triki, Managing Partner and CEO at SPE Capital, said: “This will be our second investment in Morocco through the fund SPE AIF I and the second in the pharmaceuticals industry, following our investment last year in Future Pharmaceuticals Industry in Egypt.”

“We believe the pharmaceutical sector has strong fundamentals of growth and resilience. Within the sector, players with solid management, manufacturing excellence and strong marketing know-how, like Saham Pharma, can significantly outperform the market. Today, we are happy and excited to join forces with Dr. Younous Elalamy and his team to take Saham Pharma to the next level.”

Saham Pharma, founded in 2011 after Saham Group’s acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s beta-lactams production site in Morocco and led by Younous Elalamy, is among the fastest growing pharmaceuticals companies in Morocco.

Saham Pharma has developed an unmatched expertise in manufacturing high quality antibiotics products.

In recent years, the company significantly increased its market share in the growing Moroccan hospital sector and began exporting its products to other African countries. Saham Pharma stands as the partner of choice for renowned multinational leaders such as GSK, Octapharma, and Amgen.

Through the acquisition of Saham Pharma, the management team, SPE Capital and Proparco aim to accelerate the growth of the company, by consolidating its position as the leader of the manufacturing of antibiotics in Morocco, integrating further into the hospital value chain and continuing to develop internationally.

Younous Elalamy, Managing Director at Saham Pharma, said: “We have had strong growth over the past years and we are happy to have private equity investors of the quality of SPE Capital and Proparco partner with us to support our continued development over the coming years. We have ambitious plans for Saham Pharma and look forward to combining our strengths to create value for the company and its shareholders.”