Mylan has agreed to acquire the Agila Specialties injectables unit of the Indian biopharma Strides Arcolab for $1.6 billion in cash. Agila, a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of generic injectable drugs, is headquartered in Bangalore, India.

The generic pharmaceutical company beat out several interested parties that included Pfizer and Novartis. The deal expands and strengthens Mylan’s global injectables platform, providing entry to new high-growth markets such as Brazil. It also furthers Mylan’s biosimilars strategy, says Mylan CEO Heather Bresch.

Bresch said the deal “will immediately create a new, powerful global leader in this fast-growing, attractive market segment and accelerate our target of becoming a top-three global player in injectables.”

One of the things that attracted Mylan to Agila was its state-of-the art manufacturing facilities, and its track record of obtaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for many of its products.

With the addition of Agila, Mylan will have one of the deepest and broadest global injectables portfolios in the industry, with more than 700 marketed injectable products and a global pipeline of more than 350 injectable products pending approval, plus eight global manufacturing facilities. The deal also gives Mylan entry into Brazil’s market where Agila has recently opened a new facility.

The deal is expected to double Mylan’s injectables revenue, which was about $500 million in 2012, according to the company. The global generic injectables market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13 percent from 2011 to 2017, driven by patent expiries, and outpacing most other dosage forms. Mylan says the portfolio of the combined company will represent approximately 70 percent of regulated market demand for injectables and the combined R&D platform and manufacturing capabilities will position Mylan to be a significant participant in advanced new technologies to drive future growth.

Mylan will pay Strides $1.6 billion in cash for Agila, plus as much as $250 million in potential payments subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions by Strides. The company also says the deal will be immediately accretive to earnings. Mylan has received a commitment from Morgan Stanley for a new $1 billion senior unsecured bridge term loan to help finance the deal, which is expected to close by the end of 2013, subject to regulatory approvals.