According to Haaretz,  Teva has been going on a “little” shopping spree, buying companies as if they were cute pairs of shoes they just had to have. (And FYI, this Teva company has no connection to the Israeli hikers’ beloved Teva sandal co., incidentally made in China.) Recently, Teva purchased Barr Pharmaceuticals, “the fourth largest generic firm in the U.S., for $7.46 billion.” Teva had previously bought “Ivax in January 2006 for $7.4 billion and Sicor in October 2003 for $3.4 billion.” Even though Teva is already the world’s biggest generic drug maker, maxing out its credit cards on all these ‘steals’ will elevate Teva to a “generic powerhouse employing about 37,000 people globally and operating directly in more than 60 countries.”

The big reversal

A quick look at Globes or Techcrunch, will leave you numb from repetitive headlines such as “Company X acquires Company Y for Z million dollars”. However, if these headlines refer to Israel, it’s usually because an American company is buying out an Israeli hi-tech startup. Just search for “Microsoft buys Israeli startup” in Google and you’ll see what I mean. Here’s a few examples of startups Microsoft has bought lately:

• Zoomix data quality software
• YaData – ad targeting company
• Kidaro – Virtualization Startup
• Gteko – developer of technical support products

But Teva’s takeover has turned the tables proving that an Israeli company can buy out a huge US company. And, at 7.46b, it’s mighty impressive!