Roquette acquires majority of Crest Cellulose

France’s Roquette has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Crest Cellulose, from Pravesha Industries, a major pharmaceutical packaging company in India, and formed a joint venture with Pravesha. Crest has facilities in Hyderabad and Nellore and makes a wide range of pharmaceutical excipients.

The company said that this addition will reinforce its position “as a major supplier to the pharmaceutical industry and a global leader in superior natural-based pharmaceutical excipients”. It follows the acquisition of Blanver Pharmaceutical’s excipients division in 2017 and takes Roquette further into the Indian pharmaceuticals sector, which has been growing at 10%/year and reached $33 billion in 2017.

Paul Smaltz, vice president of the Roquette Pharma global business unit, commented: “With its manufacturing plant designed and built according to the highest pharma standards and quality systems, Crest Cellulose will enlarge our cellulose-based excipients offering to customers with superior solutions and will bring us closer to our customers in India and the whole of Asia.”