Three or four candidates? Confusion reigns around potential candidates for the acquisition of Biogaran, even though the pharmaceutical group Servier, owner of the tricolor generic, has still not officially confirmed the sale of its subsidiary. The announcement of the dissolution and the outcome of the legislative elections on July 7 add to the imbroglio. The only certainty in the middle of this general cacophony: the French champion, which represents more than one in eight boxes of medicine delivered in France and achieves 750 million euros in turnover, arouses desire.
Also read the decryption | Article reserved for our subscribers Biogaran: the possible sale of the French flagship of generic medicines raises concerns
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Starting with that of the Benta pharmaceutical laboratory, owned by Lebanese businessman Bernard Tannoury, based in the Lyon metropolis of Saint-Genis-Laval. The French manufacturer, which has also recently been marketing drugs on the French market under its brand name Benta Lyon, created a surprise on Saturday June 15 by submitting an offer to the Lazard bank to buy France’s leading generic manufacturer. According to our information, the Lyonnais has put 850 million euros on the table to acquire the subsidiary of the Servier group. The proposal would be financed for a third by a European investment fund, and the rest by loans from banks.
Four years ago, the company had already caused astonishment by taking over the 16-hectare Famar factory in Saint-Genis-Laval at the commercial court. “ A very difficult file, not to say suicidal », says a seasoned industrialist, who had given up on taking a position at the time, judging the business too risky.
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The laboratory, which has made health sovereignty one of the major axes of its development (it is notably one of the beneficiaries of the France Relance 2030 plan as part of a project to relocalize six generic drugs), was thus still in the red in 2023, showing barely 12 million euros in turnover. But it plans to double its sales and be profitable in 2024. “ Even so, it is difficult to see how a small company could claim to buy Biogaran, which looks like a juggernaut compared to them. It doesn’t make sense, they’re going to go into debt to death », Reacts those around a competitor. In the ranks of Biogaran subcontractors, some are just as doubtful. “ I don’t really see how they could do it, but if they do, it would be a great move, and it would fill their factory », observes one of them.
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