CEVA buys Summit VetPharm, extends position in veterinary market

Lenexa, Kan.

-- CEVA is buying a majority share in New Jersey-based Summit VetPharm.

Plans for the acquisition were announced this week between CEVA and Summit's parent Sumitomo Corp.

CEVA reports the acquisition offers the company entry into the ectoparasiticide market with Summit's Vectra brand, which controls fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, lice, mites and sand flies.

CEVA entered the U.S. market in 2005, when it acquired Biomune Company, a poultry biological business, and continued its expansion in 2007 with the acquisition of Butler Sales Associates, Inc. Summit VetPharm made its market debut in 2007 with the launch of its Vectra brand, which is sold exclusively through veterinarians.

CEVA Chairman and CEO, Marc Prikazsky adds, "Summit VetPharm is an excellent business, led by a management team that shares our own entrepreneurial business approach. Geographically, it’s a perfect fit, giving CEVA a strengthened position in the U.S. companion animal health market."

Sumitomo will continue to be involved in the growth and development of the company. Further plans of cooperation between the two companies will provide CEVA the ability to source and develop new molecules from Japan.

According to Tatsuya Suto, corporate officer, deputy general manager of Sumitomo's Life Science Division, "Sumitomo sees this relationship as an avenue to many more opportunities to grow our joint businesses in the future. Summit VetPharm was Sumitomo's first entry into the veterinary animal-health industry, and we have every intention of continuing this investment path. This new partnership will give all parties the chance to capitalize on each other's strengths, and build leading positions in market segments and countries where they currently do not have a strong presence."

CEVA is considered the 9th largest animal health company in the world.