The Andress family, owner of Laboratorios Lacer, has received purchase offers that value the company at nearly 500 million euros. The company, a well-known manufacturer of toothpastes, mouthwashes and non-prescription drugs such as Thrombocid, is owned by the brothers Daniela, Nora, Elsa and Karl Andress, who inherited the shares from their father, Helmut Andress, a German resident in Barcelona, son of the founder. who passed away in March of last year.
Financial sources explained that the family has received binding offers from five industrial groups: the American multinational Colgate Palmolive; the German generic manufacturer Stada; the Indian group Cooper Pharma, the Spanish-Argentine group Insud Pharma and the Italian Italfarmaco. The company has also attracted the interest of large venture capital funds, but they have submitted less competitive offers. The family expects to close the sale in the coming days.
Headquartered in Barcelona and with 470 employees, Lacer was founded in 1949 and annually invoices more than 130 million euros, with more than 18 million euros in profits. The company was a pioneer in the parapharmacy sector, for which it created its own commercial team, and exports its products to nearly 40 countries. In addition, the laboratory sells prescription drugs for cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, urological and nervous system ailments. The group also includes Inmobiliaria Comercial Cerdeña, a firm that has among its assets the former headquarters of the group on Calle Sardenya in Barcelona, which it has put up for sale to transform into a home; the factory, in Cerdanyola, of 16,000 m2, in which it has invested more than 50 million euros, as well as logistics warehouses for its own use and others rented to third parties.
The imminent sale of the company has raised alarms among the company's 470 workers, who fear that some of the buyers will dismantle the company, since most of them have a manufacturing structure in Spain, as well as office and network staff. commercial.
As reported yesterday by UGT Fica in a statement, the owners promised the workers that any sale would be linked to the maintenance of the legacy of Lacer and the Andress family. However, the sale negotiations have advanced and the possible buyers do not incorporate deadlines or a continuity plan for the workforce.
