Veterinary pharmaceutical company Dechra has acquired Venco, the trading name for South American-based Laboratorios Vencofarma, in a deal worth £37.8m.

With its manufacturing base in Skipton, Dechra’s Cheshire head office confirmed that following the initial announcement of the deal in October, it has now completed the acquisition.

Ian Page, the firm’s chief executive officer said: “We are delighted to complete on the Venco acquisition, enabling Dechra to establish a key new footprint in the rapidly expanding South American markets. We are pleased to welcome the Venco team to Dechra, to begin the integration process and our additional investment in this rapidly growing market.”

Venco has a large range of Vaccines and other Food producing Animal Products (FAP) which it sells mostly within Brazil, with a small but growing presence in other South American and international markets. It also has a small portfolio of Companion Animal Products (CAP) vaccines and pharmaceuticals which are sold mainly to the Brazilian market. Overall, the company has over 200 current product registrations. Vaccines is the fastest growing therapeutic area within FAP globally and Brazil is the fourth biggest FAP market in the world.

The acquisition strengthens Dechra’s strategically significant position within the rapidly expanding Brazilian and South American markets. The firm said it planned to continue to invest over the coming two to three years, building the Dechra brand in South America by registering and developing new products and developing its existing Venco pipeline and registrations.

This is the latest international acquisition for Dechra this year. In October, it bought New Zealand-headquartered Caledonian Holdings for £4.4m. Netherlands based AST Farma and Le Vet, were both acquired in January for €340m.