Ashmore Backs Pharco's Expansion Into Saudi Arabia With New Manufacturing Plant
Pharco is building a pharmaceutical plant in Saudi Arabia, and Ashmore Investment Saudi Arabia is putting capital behind it. The deal, signed at the PIF Private Sector Forum, is the first investment under Ashmore's Industrial Initiative, and it hands Pharco's Saudi arm, Pharco KSA, fresh money to get the plant built.
The site sits in Al Madinah Industrial City, west of Medina, on roughly 62,000 square metres. Total investment: around $150 million. The plant is designed to produce solid oral dosage forms and injectables, starting with the medicines patients reach for most often: cardiovascular, diabetes, and respiratory treatments, alongside a broader range of essential medicines. Ashmore's own announcement in February pointed to 2027 as the target for local operations to begin; by May, Pharco's chairman was telling Daily News Egypt to expect early 2028 instead.
Structurally, it's a primary capital increase: Ashmore takes a minority stake in Pharco KSA, and Pharco is folding its Saudi operations into that single entity as part of the deal. SIDF Investment Company (SIC), tied to the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, came in as anchor investor. EFG Hermes handled the advisory work, continuing a relationship with Pharco that goes back more than 25 years.
"Saudi Arabia is a core focus market for Pharco, underpinned by more than three decades of consistent medicine supply to the Kingdom," said Dr. Sherine Helmy, Chairman of Pharco Corporation, in Ashmore's announcement of the deal. "The capital increase from Ashmore represents the next phase of our commitment, accelerating local pharmaceutical manufacturing and strengthening medicine supply in line with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 objectives."
Ashmore's own CEO, Ahmed Al-Mohaisen, framed it as a bet on the Kingdom's industrial base: the deal reflects "long-standing conviction in the Kingdom's industrial sector and its strong growth potential," he said, calling the Industrial Initiative a vehicle "designed to attract high-value investments that are aligned with and support Vision 2030 objectives." EFG Hermes' Maged El-Ayouti, Co-Head of Investment Banking, described the transaction as one that "highlights the growing opportunities for deeper integration between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the wider region."
Saudi Arabia already takes in roughly half of what Pharco ships abroad, across more than 50 countries. Pharco also owns a 30 percent stake in Batterjee Pharma, an existing foothold in the Gulf that the new plant is built to extend.
The Medina project isn't a one-off. Pharco recently opened a new eye drops line in Alexandria and says it will invest around EGP 1.5 billion over the coming year, up from roughly EGP 1.15 billion in 2025. Helmy has also pointed to Africa as the next growth frontier, partly because WTO intellectual-property exemptions for the world's least-developed countries are set to expire after 2033, and has spoken about building an integrated manufacturing network on the continent, including local production of raw materials.
Pharco Corporation — Pharco press release.
