BC Partners to Acquire Synthon International Holding B.V.
London, 2nd July 2019 – Funds advised by BC Partners (“BC Partners”), a leading international private equity firm, have reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Synthon International Holding B.V. (“Synthon” or “the Company”), a global market leader in the development of complex Generics, from its parent company Synthon Holding B.V. (“the Parent”). BC Partners will partner with Synthon’s founder, who will remain a shareholder in the Company. The Company will be carved out from the Parent and continue to operate under the Synthon brand. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the coming months.
Synthon focuses on developing, manufacturing and out-licensing complex generics and hybrid medicines for patients around the world. It was founded by Dr. Jacques Lemmens in 1991 and has since developed a diversified base of over 200 customers serving around 100 countries worldwide. Synthon’s business is vertically integrated, with around 1,600 employees globally working across nine locations including four state-of-the-art research laboratories and manufacturing units. Its activities extend from the development of new drugs to their manufacturing, and in select markets to their distribution.
BC Partners, in partnership with the founder, intends to build on this strong performance by investing in the expansion of Synthon’s product portfolio as well as its product pipeline and entering into new markets, which will allow Synthon to leverage its proven track record of commercialising complex pharmaceutical technologies.
Mark Hersee, Partner at BC Partners, commented: “We are privileged to be partnering with Jacques and backing a company with as high quality a management team and operations as Synthon. The company has an exciting future ahead of it and we look forward to supporting Synthon as it continues to prosper.”
Dr. Jacques Lemmens, founder of Synthon, stated: “We are very pleased with this agreement. It will enable Synthon to maximally take advantage of its expertise and capabilities, leveraging its successful heritage and the entrepreneurial spirit of its world-class team.”
Edwin de Rooij, CEO at Synthon, commented: “Partnering with BC Partners will support Synthon in delivering on its strategy of developing its pipeline and investing in new technology platforms, expanding its capacities and entering new markets – to drive growth now and into the future.”
About BC Partners BC Partners is a leading international investment firm with over €20 billion of assets under management in private equity, private credit and real estate. Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role in developing the European buy-out market for 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 Private Equity has completed 109 private equity investments in companies with a total enterprise value of €135 billion and is currently investing its tenth private equity fund. For more information, please visit www.bcpartners.com.
About Synthon Synthon, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, is a leading international science-centred pharmaceutical company focused on the provision of affordable, high-quality small-molecule generics and hybrids to patients all around the world. Currently its products are approved by regulatory agencies in around 100 countries and marketed through strategic partnerships with the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and － in dedicated areas－ through direct sales. Synthon employs about 1,600 staff worldwide, and in 2018 it recorded a turnover of EUR 268 million. For more information, please visit www.synthon.com.