a “tripartite agreement” found between the State, the pharmaceutical group Sanofi and the American fund CD & R

The State announced Sunday evening, October 20, that it had found a « accord tripartite » with the pharmaceutical group Sanofi and the American fund CD & R for the sale of the subsidiary of the pharmaceutical group of non-prescription products Opella, which markets Doliprane.

“We have obtained guarantees for the maintenance and development of Opella in France. Our demands on employment, production and investment will be respected. For Doliprane and other essential medicines in the country »wrote the Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand on X, Sunday evening October 20.

“The State, via Bpifrance, will be a shareholder to ensure this”he added, seeming to give the green light to this possible transfer. “We have reached the highest level of guarantees possible in the discussions” with Sanofi on this issue, the offices of the ministers of economy and industry told the press.

The fact of having “a representative of the State within the board of directors” d’Opel is un “additional checkpoint” to monitor compliance with these commitments which are “associated with heavy financial penalties”they added, ensuring that: “Sanofi has agreed to high demands.”

The improved offer, announced Thursday, from another takeover candidate, the French investment fund PAI Partners, backed by international investors, was therefore unsuccessful.

Fear of “social breakdown”

Sanofi announced on October 11 that it was negotiating with CD & R, a large American fund which has invested in France for around fifteen years (notably in Rexel, Spie, Socotec, But and Conformama) and supports several pharmaceutical companies such as Inizio and Sharp.

The participation of the public investment bank Bpifrance in the operation, recorded on Sunday evening, is a means for the government to obtain a right of review over the strategic orientations taken by the new foreign shareholder.

The pharmaceutical group has ensured since day one that “this project will have no impact on employment in France” and that it aims to grow Opella by relying on a financial partner ready to invest in this market closer to mass consumption than to pharmaceutical activity.

The unions fear a « social coffers » in the 1,700 jobs Opella has on French soil, including 480 on its Compiègne (Oise) site and 250 in its Lisieux (Calvados) factory, dedicated to this best-selling drug in France.