GlaxoSmithKline to acquire Nanjing MeiRui Pharma

GlaxoSmithKline has confirmed its intention to buy Chinese company Nanjing MeiRui Pharma.

The British pharmaceutical giant said it has agreed a deal worth approximately $70 million (44.6 million pounds), which will include access to the firm's product portfolio and its manufacturing facility in Nanjing City.

According to GlaxoSmithKline, 90 percent of the share capital will be acquired from Nanjing MeiRui's holding company Pagoda Pharma and the remaining ten percent from Allergon.

Its statement described China as "one of the fastest growing and most significant of the emerging markets" for the firm's pharmaceutical business.

Nanjing MeiRui produces a number of oncology and allergy products, including the Prostat treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

The transaction, which was predicted by several news sources last week, is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

Commenting on the deal, the Daily Telegraph noted that it "fits with GlaxoSmithKline's strategy of adding growth through bolt-on acquisitions".