South Africa's Ascendis to buy 49 pct stake in Spain's Farmalider

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Ascendis Health will pay 210 million rand ($16.58 million) for 49 percent of Spain's Farmalider, the South African pharmaceutical company said on Monday. Ascendis aims to increase the revenue it earns outside Africa's most advanced economy to 30 percent in the medium term from 9 percent reported in its results for the six months to December 31, it said in a statement. "Farmalider serves as a strategic platform for Ascendis to further expand into Europe," the company said. The South African group will have an option to up its stake in Farmalider to 80 percent by the end of 2018 and to buy the rest of the Spanish company's shares by the end of 2020. ($1 = 12.6656 rand)