A Jubilant moment

Two principals from the Indian company that just bought HollisterStier Laboratories said Friday the Spokane firm’s best and healthiest years are still to come.

Hari Bhartia and Shyam Bhartia, co-founders of Jubilant Organosys Ltd., based in Delhi, finished a two-day visit in the Northwest by predicting their new Spokane operation will see significant growth.

Publicly traded Jubilant, which has a market capitalization equal to $1.2 billion, purchased HollisterStier effective June 1. Jubilant paid $122.5 million and also took over $16 million in capital projects that will expand production capacity at the North Regal Street facility.

Hari Bhartia is the firm’s co-chairman; his brother is Jubilant’s chairman.

Jubilant has become an integrated contract research and production company, helping major drug-makers around the world develop new products and fill orders. About 80 percent of its work is focused on life sciences; the rest are for chemical industrial products.

HollisterStier provides contract sterile or freeze-dry production for drug designers or large pharmaceutical companies around the world.

“We discovered we had common customers as we went through due diligence on this transaction,” noted Anthony Bonanzino, president and CEO of HollisterStier.

Added Shyam Bhartia: “The customers we have include some of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world.” He said agreements with those customers prevent identifying them.

The brothers explained that HollisterStier is the third U.S. company Jubilant has acquired over the past several years. All three — while each doing slightly different things — perform manufacturing services for larger pharmaceutical companies.

“The United States is the largest market in the world for pharmaceutical products,” said Shyam Bhartia. “So, HollisterStier is an important step … for us.”

Prior to the sale, HollisterStier had been owned by Windward Capital Partners of New York. It has enjoyed significant recent growth, becoming the largest company of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.

HollisterStier also produces a variety of allergy products, including test kits and devices for helping patients treat allergic reactions. The Bhartias said the allergy component of the business will also grow over time.

Already dealing with a fast-growing workforce of 500, Bonanzino said it’s hard to predict the size of the company in 12 months.

“The plan is to grow and to grow quickly,” Bonanzino said. “Investments will take place.”

Hari Bhartia underlined the key feature behind the purchase of HollisterStier in global terms. Instead of U.S. jobs moving to India, Jubilant exemplifies the opposite trend, an investment and growth of U.S. operations.

“This is about growing the company and bringing research and technology from India, and increasing the expertise we already have in Spokane,” said Hari Bhartia.

“We already have similar customers and similar processes. This will help us synergize the best practices of both companies,” he said.

In particular, some high-quality, lean-production practices used by Jubilant at its four India operations will likely be implemented in Spokane, said Hari Bhartia.