Audrey Duval, head of Sanofi France, explained on Thursday October 16 on RTL that she “understands the concerns” linked to the sale of the Opella subsidiary to an American group, while promising to maintain “jobs and production sites” on “several years”.
An outing to reassure, the day after a call for a renewable strike on all Sanofi sites, launched by several unions. The president of Sanofi France, Audrey Duval, guaranteed Thursday October 16 on RTL the “sustainability” jobs, production sites and Doliprane, before the start of a strike by several unions.
Almost a week ago, on October 11, the pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced that it was holding negotiations with the American fund CD & R to cede control of Opella, an entity of non-prescription consumer products, which markets a hundred brands including Doliprane. Asked about the fears of unions and employees regarding the anticipated sale, Audrey Duval said “understand the concerns”.
“We hear them and afterwards, it’s normal that they have these questions since in fact, we are in the middle of an operation which has not been finalized. So, in fact, the social dialogue and the negotiation process have not started”underlines the manager. Before “to guarantee” for the French “Doliprane in pharmacies” as well as the “sustainability of jobs and sites” of production in France on “several years”. For their part, the unions fear a «social coffers» in the 1,700 jobs Opella has on French soil, including 500 on its Compiègne site in Oise and 250 in its Lisieux factory in Calvados, entirely dedicated to Doliprane. The strike will be particularly marked on these two sites, according to the CFDT and the CGT.
Sanofi will remain a 50% shareholder
In this possible transaction, the outlines of which are still in the discussion phase, “Sanofi will remain a 50% shareholder, which gives it a right of veto over extremely strategic decisions of the group, such as Doliprane”specified Audrey Duval. The president of Sanofi France insisted that Opella’s headquarters, its management team and its employees on its French sites “will stay in France”. This week, the government asked stakeholders for guarantees in terms of maintaining employment, the industrial footprint, the location of headquarters and research and development.
Fears have yet to be allayed and Sanofi’s objectives have yet to be clarified. Questioned Tuesday in the Echos on a possible entry into the capital of a public actor such as the public investment bank Bpifrance, the chairman of the board of directors of Sanofi, Frédéric Oudéa, assured that “all subjects (were) on the table”. But this is not the opinion of Audrey Duval, who explained on RTL that Bpifrance, “this is not our preference”.
Opella is up to 450 million boxes of Doliprane produced in 2023 for the French market, but also 20 million euros currently invested on the Lisieux site, in order to increase production by 140 million boxes per year from of 2026. Doliprane is 97% sold in France, a country which only represents around 10% of Opella sales, the second market behind the United States. In addition to Doliprane, Opella also markets the brands Dulcolax, Lysopaïne, Maalox and Novanuit in France.
