Duopharma eyes M&A prospects in Philippines, Indonesia

Duopharma group managing director Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar.

KUALA LUMPUR: Duopharma Biotech Bhd is actively evaluating two potential mergers and acquisitions (M&A) proposals from the Philippines and Indonesia, according to group managing director Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar.

However, he said the company remains open to M&A within ASEAN to facilitate more seamless business integration.

"M&A proposals from the Philippines and Indonesia are on the table, but nothing is certain yet, as we sometimes receive opportunities in Vietnam as well,” he told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting today.

The company established a subsidiary, PT Duopharma Healthcare Indonesia, in Indonesia last year.

Regarding capital expenditure (capex) for this year, Leonard Ariff noted that the company would focus on investing in manufacturing assets, although this investment will be lower than last year's.

"Moving forward, the manufacturing assets we invest in will be those that support our regional play,” he said.

Leonard Ariff shared that the company would also invest around RM150 million in biological assets and RM55 to RM60 million in sterile assets.

Additionally, the company plans to allocate around RM50 million as capex to increase the capacity of its Highly Potent Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (HAPI) plant.

He added that while the company is open to investing overseas, current investments are primarily focused on the domestic market.

"Investments in biological, sterile and HAPI assets are domestic.

"At the same time, we successfully negotiated RM2 billion worth of sukuk last year. We have withdrawn about RM400 million, so we still have room for financing should we find appropriate opportunities overseas,” he added.

Duopharma established a programme for the issuance of Islamic medium-term notes (sukuk Wakalah) up to RM2.0 billion in nominal value last year, with a 30-year tenure. The first issuance was made in September 2023. - Bernama