The exterior of the Aspen Pharmacare Holdings offices in Durban, South Africa. (Photo: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg via Getty Images) 
JSE-listed Aspen Pharmacare plans to sell its Asian and Pacific assets excluding China for R26.5-billion to Australian-based private investment firm BGH Capital as part of its strategy to reduce debt and simplify its lender base.
South Africa’s biggest pharmaceutical producer said in a SENS statement on Monday, 29 December 2025, that it “... has entered into binding agreements for the sale of 100% of its equity interests and intellectual property assets in Australia, New Zealand and other Asia Pacific regions (excluding China)”.
Aspen said it had not planned the disposal but BGH made an unsolicited offer that the company deemed worthy of a binding offer.
Aspen’s share price soared more than 20% in early trade on the news, a move indicating investor approval that was perhaps juiced up by low liquidity at this stage of the South African festive period.
“In line with Aspen’s capital allocation model, the net proceeds of the proposed transaction will be allocated primarily to reduce debt and optimise the group’s capital structure, substantially reducing financing costs, and simplifying its lender base,” Aspen said.
At the end of its last financial year Aspen’s debt was R31.2-billion, and its debt-equity ratio was modest by the global standards of the sector at under 40%.
But it posted a loss of R1.1-billion in its last financial year and its debt was more than three times higher than its Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA). Aspen signalled it was striving to boost leverage ratios by reducing its debt. DM