Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC has announced that it has conditionally agreed to acquire VetXX for £61.7 million on a cash free, debt free basis, payable in cash upon completion.

VetXX is a leading developer, producer and marketer of companion animal veterinary products exclusively to veterinary professionals and wholesalers. Based in Denmark the company employs 165 people and operates in ten European countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Holland, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland and the UK). It also supplies through distributor agreements into other countries, including Japan and Germany.

The acquisition gives Dechra a strong European footprint and materially increases Dechra’s range of licensed veterinary pharmaceutical products. It will also give Dechra a sales and distribution network to market the enlarged product range and future developed products to veterinary practices and wholesalers within eight European countries, in addition to the UK and Ireland in which Dechra currently operates.

Following completion of the acquisition, Dechra's strategy will be unchanged, namely to seek to deliver medium to long-term growth through the development, by way of organic growth and acquisition, of its own branded veterinary pharmaceutical portfolio of both novel and generic products and the licensing of these key products into international markets. The acquisition will complement and expand the Enlarged Group's offering and help accelerate this strategy.

In view of its size, the acquisition is conditional, inter alia, on Dechra shareholder approval as required by the Listing Rules. The acquisition is expected to be completed by 15 January 2008.