Investment fund Advent International, which paid more than 120 million euros to buy drug manufacturer LaborMed Pharma in its entirety, will bring Stephen Stead to the helm of the company in the second quarter of this year, according to market sources.

At present, Stead, 49, is the chief executive officer of Polpharma, Poland's largest drug producer, which was acquired by Hungarian-based Gedeon Richter last year. Between 2004-2006, Stead filled a similar position at Terapia Cluj. Terapia was Advent's first investment in the Romanian drug industry, which yielded a return worth ten times the initial investment when the fund exited the business.

At LaborMed, Advent also brought onboard Mircea Ilie, the former chief financial officer of Terapia, and is thus seeking to rebuild the same team originally employed at the Cluj-based drug maker, the same sources reveal.

"These are mere speculations. I wouldn't like to say anything else at this moment," Stephean Stead told ZF.

During Stephen Stead's four-year mandate, Terapia's value increased more than seven times, sales almost doubled, and the company made regional expansion plans. Back in 2005, Terapia also bought two small players, Pharmaplant and Promedic.

Stephen Stead gave up his position as CEO at Terapia in 2006, shortly after the company was taken over by Indian-based Ranbaxy for 324 million dollars. Advent had originally paid 44 million dollars for Terapia in 2003.

After six months of negotiations, in December, Advent took over the entire stake in LaborMed from five businessmen. In the last quarter of the year, LaborMed exited the top 20 ranking, after the company saw constant declines throughout each quarter of 2007.

According to the latest data available, last year LaborMed forecast turnover worth 35 million euros, a figure close to Terapia's turnover when it was initially t