Moroccan pharmaceutical tycoon Lamia Tazi loses $9.4 million from her stake in Sothema

Moroccan pharma tycoon Lamia Tazi has seen the market value of her stake in Marocaine Ste de Therapeutique (Sothema) fall by millions of dollars in recent months, as shares in the Casablanca-based pharmaceutical company retreat from an all-time high.

According to data obtained by Billionaires.Africa, the market value of her stake has decreased by MAD92.99 million ($9.42 million) in the past 115 days as investors continue to sell off stakes in the pharmaceutical company as part of a strategic move to reduce stakes in risky assets.

Sothema is Morocco’s leading healthcare company, producing approximately 60 million units of drugs per year and operating a diverse portfolio of 35 multinational laboratories producing and exporting goods to Europe, the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Persian Gulf.

Tazi, its chair and CEO, owns a sizable 3.93-percent stake in the company, totaling 282,644 shares.

As of press time on May 27, shares in Sothema were trading at MAD1,400 ($141.8), 2.12-percent more than their opening price on the Casablanca bourse at the start of the market on Thursday.

Shares in the Moroccan pharmaceutical company have lost nearly one-fifth of their value since the beginning of February, falling from an all-time high of MAD1,729 ($175.1) on Feb. 1 to a price of MAD1,400 ($141.8) at the time of writing.

As a result of the double-digit percent decline in Sothema shares, the market value of Tazi’s stake in the company has dropped from MAD488.7 million ($49.5 million) on Feb. 1 to MAD395.7 million ($40.07 million) at the time of writing this report.

This equates to a total loss of MAD92.99 million ($9.42 million) for the leading businesswoman, who is one of the most wealthy investors on the Casablanca bourse.