Sanofi and Advent International have finished negotiations for the acquisition of Zentiva, Sanofi’s European generics business, by Advent and the companies have signed a Share Purchase Agreement worth €1.9 billion (enterprise value).
“Zentiva is a robust business with a highly talented workforce and we believe it has demonstrated its potential for growth. Following a comprehensive review of strategic options for our generics unit in Europe, we have determined that transferring this business to Advent is the best option to ensure its long-term success,” said Olivier Brandicourt, Chief Executive Officer, Sanofi.
“We have long been attracted to the generics pharmaceutical sector as it enables more people to access high quality treatments by lowering their cost. We believe that Zentiva is a great platform, full of talented people, who we can invest behind to build a new, independent, European generics leader” said in a joint statement Tom Allen, Managing Director and co-head of Advent International’s European Healthcare team and Cédric Chateau, Managing Director and head of Advent International in France.
The companies had entered into exclusive talks on April 17, 2018.
The transfer of the Zentiva business to Advent is expected during the course of the fourth quarter of 2018.