Impax Labs to spend $700 million on Tower Holdings portfolio of drugmakers

Impax Laboratories Inc. will pay $700 million in cash to buy Tower Holdings Inc., which owns privately held specialty drugmakers that focus on complex generic drugs and branded pharmaceuticals.

Hayward, California-based Impax said Thursday that the deal will give it a growing product portfolio expected to generate between about $215 million and $225 million in revenue this year. That includes the tapeworm treatment Albenza. Impax expects the deal to add about 90 cents per share to next year's earnings, assuming it closes in the next six months.

Tower's subsidiaries include CorePharma, Amedra Pharmaceuticals and Lineage Therapeutics.

Impax is a specialty drugmaker that focuses on controlled-release medications, specialty generics and central nervous system disorder treatments.

Shares of Impax soared 12 percent, or $2.87, to $26.71 in Thursday morning trading while broader indexes slipped. The stock had fallen more than 5 percent so far this year, as of Wednesday's close.