Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News staff

Gerresheimer AG announced its acquisition of Centor, a global supplier of prescription containers for medical dispensing, for $725 million. The move further extends Gerresheimer’s footprint in the pharmaceutical packaging business.

"Centor is the highly profitable market leader for plastic vials and closures in the prescription retail market,” says Uwe Röhrhoff, CEO of Gerresheimer AG. “This is a perfect fit to extend our product offering from packaging of parenterals to the packaging of oral drugs in the United States. We expect that this acquisition will increase shareholder value significantly.”

The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and expected during the fourth quarter of financial year 2015. Centor will be integrated in the Plastics & Devices Division of Gerresheimer.

Centor was founded in 1968 and it is based in Perrysburg, OH. Centor manufactures plastic vials and closures for oral drugs in the prescription retail market. With the United States prescription industry structured around the established 'pour-and-count' system, whereby the exact number of prescribed oral drugs is delivered to patients in plastic vials, Centor’s portfolio includes Screw-Loc and 1-Clic in the U.S. plastic vials market. Centor serves national and regional pharmacy chains, supermarkets, and wholesalers. The company is a carve-out of Nemera Group, a former business of Rexam Healthcare divested in 2014.

Earlier in July, Gerresheimer announced its sale of its glass tubing business to Corning Incorporated.

For more company information, visit http://www.centorrx.com and http://www.gerresheimer.com.