Antares Vision and ALP.I SPAC reached an agreement for the two companies to merge, reporting that ALP.I will invest €70m, taking an approx. 12% stake post-acquisition in the Brescia-based firm. The general meeting to approve the business combination will be held in February 2019.
Antares Vision is a technology company with an industrial culture, operating in the pharmaceutical sector, in the design, realization and implementation of traceability solutions—both hardware and software—with more than 2,000 installations in product lines in over 200 pharmaceutical facilities in Italy and worldwide. Antares Vision reports it is the sole or main supplier of 10 of the 20 leading pharmaceutical groups worldwide. More than 80% of its production is exported, with Antares Vision offering global coverage and 24/7 assistance in more than 60 different countries.
Antares Vision also notes that the niche technology segment in which it operates “is growing strongly, following the trend in product protection, starting from integrity in terms of quality control, throughout its life-cycle, and remaining traceable along the entire supply chain. The pharmaceutical industry has an important regulatory component linked to drug anti-counterfeiting measures, meaning that such systems have been adopted earlier. However, the Antares Vision management believes that these tracking solutions will soon be extended to other non-pharmaceutical industrial sectors, which are equally demanding and sensitive to quality control and supply chain transparency issues, such as food, beverages, biomedical devices, OTC drugs and cosmetics. With the liquidity injected by the ALP.I merger, Antares Vision will be able to look carefully at possible acquisition opportunities, which are available due to the high degree of market fragmentation.”
ALP.I is an Italian-incorporated SPAC listed on the AIM Italy stock market. Its mission is to search and select target companies with which to complete business combinations.
