Inter Pharma Plc, the producer and marketer of probiotic food supplements, is set to leapfrog sales to 2.5 billion baht by 2025 under its five-year business plan which spans 2021 to 2025, both through a merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy and organic growth.
Chief executive officer Trinnawat Tanitnitiphan said the company is now in talks with 2-3 potential partners to seek opportunities to form joint ventures.
These potential partners are mainly from the sectors that enable the company to fulfil its business goal to provide completely probiotic food supplements and nutraceutical products for both humans and pets and livestock healthcare, he said.
According to Mr Trinnawat, Inter Pharma has actively expanded its business via an M&A strategy, spending more than 500 million baht in four business deals since November last year.
The company spent 295 million baht to take over Modern Pharma, the producer of pharmaceutical products for humans and animals and food supplements in November last year.
In January this year, the company formed a joint venture with Thai Union Ingredients, a subsidiary of Thai Union Group Plc, to set up Interpharma-ZEAvita Co.
The newly established company will focus on research and development as well as the manufacture and distribution of health products, responding to consumer trends that focus on wellbeing.
In the latest development, early this month the company took a 100% stake in Teva, familiarly known as Silom Medical, for 160 million baht.
According to Mr Trinnawat, the company will hold a majority stake in joint venture companies in order to control efficient management.
"The M&A strategy is used for business synergy and efficient investment costs," he said. "With the M&A strategy, we aim to become a complete health food line for both humans and pets as well as livestock,'' he said.
For Interpharma-ZEAvita, in particular, he said the company will spend 20 million baht to develop two new fish-based health foods including medical milk and nutraceutical foods for patients with liver and kidney problems.
For organic growth, the company will continue launching new nutraceutical products to capitalise on the 10-billion-baht food supplement business with an average of 10-15% growth per year.
The market size of Thailand's nutraceutical products was about 2 billion baht in 2020, up by 15-20% from the previous year.
"Health food is very promising. The Covid-19 pandemic will make people become more aware of health in the long term,'' he said.
He added the company plans to launch a new product with hemp for human and companion animals and livestock healthcare products this year.
Recently, the company launched Probac Fit Series, expecting sales of 100 million baht this year and 200 million baht by 2023.