Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has joined a consortium to acquire Unither Pharmaceuticals (Unither), an EU-based pharmaceutical product manufacturer, from French PE firm Ardian, according to an announcement.
The transaction sees the consortium comprising GIC and IK Partners (IK) acquiring the equity stake while Keensight Capital (Keensight) and Parquest are reinforcing their existing positions.
Unither’s management team is led by Eric Goupil, who transitions to the newly-created role of executive chairman. The management team is significantly reinvesting its proceeds in the company.
The transaction details were not disclosed.
Spun out of Sanofi in 1993, Unither is a leading European pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) producing complex sterile liquid formulations for medical use and is currently the global market leader in the Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) technology, a sterile single-unit dosage format.
To date, the company claims that its products are sold in over 100 countries. With the support of Ardian, Unither has enlarged its footprint in China to serve a growing global demand for its high-quality BFS products.
GIC, IK, Keensight and Parquest will leverage the strong local footprint of their respective international platforms to support Unither’s future growth.
“With Ardian’s support, we have been able to strengthen our business in the US, expand into China and continue investing significantly to cope with our customers’ strong demand and fuel our future organic growth. In collaboration with our new partners, GIC and IK and with the support of our historic partners Keensight and Parquest, we are seeking to build on this strong foundation, to continue satisfying our customers and leverage our global footprint,” said Goupil.
“Unither is a clear market leader in the BFS business space with its innovative and diversified product portfolio, a steady customer base and highly resilient revenue model,” said GIC’s CIO of private equity Choo Yong Cheen.
Most recently, GIC invested in German pharmaceutical Cheplapharm in a 550 million euros ($547 million) structured investment along with Atlantic Park.
Last year, GIC agreed to invest around $1 billion in Biomat, a U.S.-based plasma collection company owned by Grifols, thus becoming a strategic investor in the Spanish pharmaceutical company.