Astorg Nears $2.6 Billion Acquisition of CordenPharma

(Bloomberg) -- Astorg Partners will acquire contract drug development and manufacturing company CordenPharma, in one of the year's largest private equity deals in European health care.

The French private equity firm is buying the business from International Chemical Investors Group, according to a statement Monday that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report. Under the terms of the deal, CordenPharma's founders will reinvest as partners with Astorg.

Financial details were not disclosed. The deal is valued at more than 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion), according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.

Astorg beat out competition from rival buyout houses for Germany-based CordenPharma, the people said. Advent International and Apax Partners were among other firms exploring a takeover of the company, Bloomberg News reported previously.

“The transaction is the result of our thematic sourcing effort in pharma services,” Judith Charpentier, partner and head of health care at Astorg, said in the statement. Charpentier said CordenPharma is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization “focused on some of the most promising areas of pharma R&D.”

Started in 2006, CordenPharma runs facilities across the U.S. and Europe that provide manufacturing and packaging services for pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products. It has an agreement with Moderna Inc. to produce an ingredient of its Covid-19 vaccine at CordenPharma facilities in Switzerland, France and Colorado.

ICIG is a holding company started by dealmaker Patrick Schnitzer and German chemical industry veteran Achim Riemann. ICIG will focus more on its chemicals portfolio after selling CordenPharma, according to the statement.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Houlihan Lokey Inc. advised Astorg on the deal, while William Blair worked with ICIG.

Flush with investor cash, buyout firms have been spending big in Europe. The value of private equity deals targeting European companies has nearly doubled this year to about $162 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Astorg was formed in 1998 and manages about 15 billion euros of assets, according to its website.

The health-care sector has been particularly active for dealmaking. Last month, European investment firm Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA agreed to buy health-care services firm Affidea, while in March, Carlyle Group Inc. and PAI Partners struck a deal to buy women's health business Theramex from CVC Capital Partners.