The main owner of the Moscow Credit Bank ( MCB ) Roman Avdeev may sell 81.1% of shares in the pharmaceutical manufacturer Veropharm to the American Abbott by the end of the summer, Kommersant writes . A manager of one of the pharmaceutical companies, close to Veropharm, informed the publication about the deal. Irina Gushchina, a representative of the Russian office of Abbott, and Roman Avdeev declined to comment.

In August 2013, Avdeev's company Gardenhills bought 52% of Veropharm from Aptechnaya Set 36.6 for 5 billion rubles, and in early November made a mandatory offer to Veropharm's minority shareholders to buy out their shares at a price of 961.27 rubles per share. After that, Gardenhills' share amounted to 81.1%. Even before the deal was completed in early December, Avdeev said that he did not rule out delisting Veropharm or selling the asset if a good price was offered for it.

Abbott Laboratories produces pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and operates in 150 countries. In 2013, its revenue was $21.8 billion, of which 2.4%, or $525 million, came from Russia. Capitalization on Friday on the NYSE was $60.1 billion. Earlier, Abbott tried to buy a stake in the vaccine manufacturer Petrovax Pharm, but in 2013 the deal was blocked by the government commission for control over foreign investment.

The company "Veropharm" was founded in 1997. It owns three factories in Belgorod, Voronezh and Pokrov, which produce mainly prescription generics.

Roman Avdeev may sell 81.1% of Veropharm to American Abbott - Kommersant