Doliprane: Sanofi finalizes discussions with the American fund

Sanofi is finalizing discussions with the American fund CD&R for the sale of its subsidiary manufacturing Doliprane despite the improved offer proposed by a French competitor, confirmed the president of Sanofi France in an interview published on Saturday in Courrier Picard.

“Following a traditional process, a partner was identified ten days ago. We are finalizing discussions with him. It’s a growth project,” declared Audrey Duval, when asked about the improved offer announced Thursday by the French fund PAI for the buyout of its subsidiary Opella.

Thursday evening, the French pharmaceutical giant had already said it was “surprised” by this offer outside of “deadlines”, recalling its choice of the previous week.

“Go with the winner of the auction”

Sanofi announced on October 11 that it was negotiating with the American investment fund CD&R in order to sell it 50% of Opella, its subsidiary which houses around a hundred brands of non-prescription products around the world, including Doliprane.

This strategic project, a new example of the refocusing of “Big Pharma” on innovation, quickly took a political turn given in particular the notoriety of the drug, used to relieve pain and fever.

Asked about the presence of Bpifrance in the capital of Opella at the end of the transaction, the general director of the public investment bank, Nicolas Dufourcq said on Saturday evening that he “agreed to go with the winner of the auction”, in an interview to appear in La Tribune on Sunday, specifying that he had been investigating the file “since July”.

“It’s not our preference”

He underlines the legitimacy of Bpifrance in becoming a co-shareholder, recalling the public bank’s investments in health and especially in the chemist Seqens (which is building a paracetamol factory, the active ingredient in Doliprane, in Isère), and highlights its ambitions in the sector with 10 billion euros of investments to be deployed in health “in the years to come”. Nicolas Dufourcq also asks for “a presence on the board” of directors, “as in all our investments”.

Sanofi is reluctant about Bpifrance’s entry into Opella’s capital and uncertainty still surrounds the final composition of the round table. “This is not our preference,” the president of Sanofi France Audrey Duval stressed on RTL on Thursday, when questioned on the subject.

“All subjects are on the table […] But the most effective option are the commitments that we are going to make to guarantee the company’s “French roots”, also declared the chairman of the board of directors of Sanofi Frédéric Oudéa, questioned on this same assumption.

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