(Bloomberg) -- Investment firms Intermediate Capital Group and Merieux Equity Partners have agreed to acquire Italian generics drugmaker Doc Generici from CVC Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.
The pharmaceutical company may have been valued at about 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), people familiar with the matter said previously. Bloomberg reported last week that ICG and CVC were close to a deal.
The takeover will be among the biggest announced for a European health-care company this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While the global volume of deals in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and health products and services is up about 14 percent this year, takeovers of European firms in the industry have dropped 82 percent, the data show. Bidders are holding back on deals in Europe generally this year amid fears about the continent's economic outlook and the ripple effects of Brexit.
Read more about Europe's dire first quarter for M&A here.
Generic drugs are growing in the Italian market, as a result of recent patent expirations on branded products and increasing use in the health system, according to a 2018 analysis by Deloitte.
“The company is well established, highly cash-generative and led by a best-in-class, committed management team,” said Luigi Bartone, ICG's head of Italian subordinated debt and equity investments. “It benefits from a resilient and growing market driven by the ongoing penetration of generics in the Italian pharmaceutical market.”
CVC bought Milan-based Doc Generici in 2016. The company counts a wide portfolio of generic drugs in areas such as cardiovascular and gastrointestinal and metabolic conditions, according to its website.
Barclays Plc acted as sole financial adviser for ICG, according to the statement.
--With assistance from Amy Thomson.
To contact the reporters on this story: Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Sarah Syed in London at ssyed35@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John Lauerman, John J. Edwards III
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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