Abbott Laboratories said it would buy the drugs unit of Solvay in a 4.5-billion euros ($6.6-billion) deal giving Abbott full control of its Belgian development partner?s cholesterol treatments and exposure to emerging markets.

Both Abbott and Solvay have a presence in the Indian market, and are listed companies. For India, after Pfizer?s $68-billion acquisition of Wyeth in January this year, this is another major deal that will see the operations of two global giants getting integrated.

Abbott India has a network of 18 distribution points, catering to 11,000 stockists, and employs over 1,000. Abbott shares last traded at Rs 577.85 on the BSE on Friday, up 3.51%. For the quarter ended June 2009, the company had a net profit of Rs 17.5 crore on net sales of Rs 196.6 crore.

Solvay Pharma India Ltd, which was a division of Duphar-Interfran Ltd till the latter?s demerger in 2002, has two sales divisions and a distribution network of 1,100. It has about 450 employees on its rolls. For the quarter ended June 2009, the company had a net profit of Rs 10.8 crore on net sales of Rs 62.3 crore. Solvay shares last traded at Rs 818.25 on the BSE on Friday, up 2.88%.

Abbott, which sells well-known brands like Brufen and Digene and Cremaffin, caters to various healthcare segments. Solvay Pharma India is mainly into women?s health and mental health care.

Abbott chief executive Miles White said the deal fits with its future strategies. ?In anticipation of future market needs, we are ensuring we have the technologies, products, infrastructure and reach?, he said in a statement. Abbott, which will finance the deal with cash, said the deal will add $0.10 to ongoing earnings per share in 2010, doubling to more than $0.20 by 2012 and increasing thereafter, all before one-off transaction items expected to occur in 2010-2012.

The deal is the latest in an acquisition spree by Abbott which this month bought medical device company Evalve Inc for $410 million and eye treatment firm Visiogen Inc for $400 million.

JP Morgan analysts said the operating profit margin of Solvay?s drug unit could be clearly improved under Abbott?s ownership, adding that synergy potential could be meaningful.

But it added that while significantly accretive to Abbott?s bottom-line, the deal will dilute its top-line sales growth.

Abbott, which co-markets with development partner Solvay cholesterol treatments TriLipix and Tricor, said the deal will add more than $3 billion in annual sales, the majority outside the United States and that Solvay has significant presence in key high-growth emerging markets, including Eastern Europe and Asia.

The enterprise value of the deal is 5.2 billion euros, including 4.5 billion in cash, additional potential milestone payments of up to 300 million euros between 2011 and 2013 and liabilities of about 400 million euros.

KBC Securities analyst Wim Hoste said the sale valued Solvay?s drugs unit at 1.9 times EV/Sales, below its expected range of 2 to 2.5 times. ?The quality of this transaction is slightly lower than what we had assumed,? Hoste said.