After the executive’s warnings about the sale of the Opella subsidiary to the American fund CD&R, Frédéric Oudéa, chairman of the board of directors of the French pharmaceutical giant, is trying to clear this operation.
Mine clearance operation. Faced with the outcry against Sanofi’s proposed sale of its consumer health subsidiary Opella to the American fund CD&R, Frédéric Oudéa, chairman of the laboratory’s board of directors, sought to reassure the executive in an interview granted to the Echoes this Wednesday, October 16. This response comes a few hours after the government requested a “exhaustive assessment” public aid that the pharmaceutical group has received over the last ten years. The Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand also confirmed the “possible presence of the State on the board of directors” of Opella, which markets Doliprane, putting additional pressure on the French laboratory.
“We must explain this decision to sell our consumer health subsidiary Opella”, Frédéric Oudéa, for his part, justifies himself in the columns of the economic daily. “It was taken a year ago, as part of our strategic thinking to strengthen Sanofi’s core pharmaceutical activities, which are biological drugs for immunology, rare diseases and even vaccines.” To defend this operation, the chairman of the board of directors of Sanofi mentions the launch of new products and “investments in messenger RNA” implying an increase in R&D spending. “We cannot do everything, we would have been incapable of providing Opella with all the means necessary for its development”adds the manager.
State participation?
Traveling this Tuesday, October 15 to Lisieux, to the historic production site of Doliprane in France, the Minister of the Economy and Finance increased the pressure on the pharmaceutical group. “We are ready to request sanctions and the study of an investment” public “so that these commitments are kept”he repeated. Moreover, “the entire procedure for controlling foreign investments” in France will be mobilized if the sale were to be confirmed, he insisted.
“All subjects are on the table, but the most effective option is the commitments that we will makeanswers Frédéric Oudéa. Sanofi is a responsible player who has always taken into account its French roots.” The manager also insists on the 50% of Opella’s capital that Sanofi wishes to keep. “This 50-50 balance with CD&R gives Sanofi a right of veto on major strategic decisions and seems to us to be the best balance in terms of value creation and governance”he says, without excluding the sale of Sanofi shares to foreign companies in the years to come.
The chairman of the board of directors also tried to reassure the employees of the Calvados factory who have been on strike since Tuesday, October 15. “We have been investing continuously in Lisieux for ten years; an investment of 20 million euros is also underway to increase the production and storage capacity of Doliprane by 40%!defends the director of the pharmaceutical group. Doliprane is a fantastic brand, we have no reason to weaken it.”
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