BC Partners Sells Pharmathen To Partners Group
LONDON, July 19, 2021 – International investment firm BC Partners today announced the sale of Pharmathen ("the Company"), a leading European pharmaceutical company, to global private markets firm Partners Group (acting on behalf of its clients). The transaction values the business at EUR c.1.6bn.
Founded in 1969 and acquired by funds advised by BC Partners in 2015 for €475m, Pharmathen is the leading European drug delivery technology company. With a highly differentiated business model and strong management team, the company is a specialist in the development of "sustained release" technologies, with best-in-class R&D capabilities, serving a blue-chip customer base in nearly 100 countries worldwide.
Under BC Partners' ownership, Pharmathen has become a technology-driven leader in a highly attractive sector, with strong and sustained organic EBITDA growth of 16% CAGR over the last five years. The company is a global leader in complex long acting injectables ("LAI") and has also established a long-acting therapeutic technologies ("LATT") platform which will fuel growth for many years. With a highly diversified product, customer and country base, Pharmathen is strongly positioned for further growth under the new stewardship of Partners Group, particularly into the US market.
Nikos Stathopoulos, Partner and Executive Committee Member at BC Partners said: "In Pharmathen, we saw an opportunity to invest significantly behind a high-quality business to accelerate its organic growth and develop the company into a global leader. During our ownership, we invested over €250 million into R&D and new FDA-approved production facilities, nearly doubled the number of employees and executed some truly transformational projects. This allowed us to reposition Pharmathen as a technology-driven leader in a very attractive sector with high barriers to entry, with a differentiated business model, deep R&D pipeline and best-in-class manufacturing capabilities which position it strongly for further growth. Together with the management team, we have built a truly remarkable company, that I am confident will continue to flourish under Partners Group's stewardship ".
Dimitris Kadis, Chief Executive Officer, Pharmathen, added: "I want to thank the BC team for their partnership over the past six years. Their investment, support and guidance has enabled them to be extremely instrumental in taking the company to the next level as a global leader in drug development and delivery. We are excited to partner with Partners Group in this next chapter of our growth story, to build a drug development powerhouse that is a trusted partner to blue-chip clients worldwide and makes a positive impact on the lives of people, by ensuring they enjoy better health."
BC Partners was advised by Jefferies and Kirkland & Ellis.
The transaction is subject to receipt of customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in 2021.
About BC Partners
BC Partners is a leading international investment firm with over €33 billion of assets under management in private equity, private credit and real estate strategies. Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role in developing the European buyout market for over three decades. Today, BC Partners executives operate across markets as an integrated team through the firm's offices in North America and Europe. Since inception, BC Partners has completed 123 private equity investments in companies with a total enterprise value of over €161 billion and is currently investing its eleventh private equity fund.
For more information, please visit www.bcpartners.com.