Amneal Pharmaceuticals in deal with public company

Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC, a generic drug maker with facilities in Hauppauge and South Yaphank, has agreed to merge with Impax Laboratories Inc. in an all-stock transaction, the companies announced.

Under the deal, the owners of privately held Amneal, based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, will hold about 75 percent of the shares of the combined company and stock holders of Impax, of Hayward, California, will own about 25 percent.

The new company, to be named Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc., will be the fifth largest generic drug manufacturer in the country by gross revenue, the companies said.

Amneal employs more than 900 workers on Long Island. A company spokesman, while not directly addressing the status of the Long Island facilities and their employees, said that management plans to begin manufacturing products at Amneal facilities that Impax now outsources.

In 2012, Amneal announced a $50 million construction project that expanded its South Yaphank factory from 121,000 square feet to 443,000 square feet.

Amneal’s co-CEOs, Chirag Patel and Chintu Patel, will serve as co-chairmen of the new company’s Board of Directors. Paul Bisaro, president and CEO of Impax, will serve as chief executive of the publicly traded company.

Shares of Impax gained 11.1 percent to close Wednesday at $21.45.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.