Ennogen will also purchase related inventory currently valued at about €4 million, or $4.5 million, taking the immediate transaction value to approximately €201 million.
The agreement transfers Ovestin’s European commercialisation rights, product registrations, marketing authorisations and related intellectual property to Ennogen.
Aspen will not, however, make a complete exit from the product. It will continue manufacturing and supplying Ovestin’s active pharmaceutical ingredient and cream formulation to Ennogen under an agreement with an initial term of 10 years.
The detailed terms were disclosed in a Johannesburg Stock Exchange announcement published by Aspen on 2 November. Completion remains subject to Ennogen’s financing arrangements becoming unconditional.
Aspen will also provide strategic services to Ennogen for five years at a fee of €1 million per month. If the arrangement runs for its full term, it would generate another €60 million, or roughly $67 million, for Aspen.
A separate transitional distribution agreement will run for up to three years and pay Aspen a fee equal to 4% of Ovestin’s net sales while the European registrations and commercial operations are transferred.
The structure allows Aspen to receive a substantial upfront payment while retaining manufacturing and service income from the product after ownership of the European commercial rights changes hands.
Ovestin is an oestrogen hormone-replacement product used in women’s health. Aspen said the brand would complement Ennogen’s existing portfolio and strengthen the buyer’s position in the European pharmaceutical market.
Ennogen is a privately owned pharmaceutical and medical-device company founded in 2011. It has its head-office function in Dubai and offices in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with a commercial focus on Europe.
Aspen said Ennogen declined to disclose the names of its ultimate beneficial owners. It confirmed that the owners are independent third parties and are not related to Aspen.
Ovestin generated R756 million, approximately $45 million, in revenue for Aspen during the financial year ended June 2026. It contributed R521 million in gross profit and R238 million, about $14 million, in profit after tax.
The €197 million purchase consideration is therefore equivalent to more than five times Ovestin’s latest annual revenue and approximately 16 times its after-tax profit, based on Aspen’s reported average euro exchange rate for the period.
Aspen expects to record a profit of approximately R2 billion, or about $120 million, on the disposal. The assets had a net value of approximately R1.6 billion at the end of June.
The company said the sale supports its strategy of unlocking the value of individual businesses and concentrating its commercial operations on emerging markets.
Aspen has already completed a much larger restructuring of its portfolio. In May, the company completed the disposal of its Asia-Pacific commercial business, excluding China, for gross proceeds of R28 billion.
That transaction and stronger cash generation moved Aspen from net borrowings of more than R29 billion in 2025 to a net cash position of approximately R806 million at the end of its 2026 financial year.
Aspen also spent R500 million repurchasing its shares during the year. It said share buybacks remain its preferred way of returning excess capital to investors, indicating that part of the Ovestin proceeds could ultimately be returned to shareholders.
The disposal does not involve the transfer of employees to Ennogen. Aspen’s factories will also retain a role in the European supply chain through the decade-long manufacturing agreement.
Source: africa.businessinsider.com
