The PAI Partners investment fund is “positioned as an official candidate” to the takeover of Sanofi’s consumer health division despite a complicated political context, a source close to the matter said on Thursday, confirming press information. “At this stage, it is the only official French candidate fund”underlined this source, estimating “probable that it will position itself with another fund” to acquire a stake in this entity valued at $20 billion.
According to Bloomberg, private equity firms Advent International and PAI Partners are most interested in this activity, while Blackstone, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, CVC Capital Partners and TPG are also in the running. Sanofi is likely to retain a significant minority stake in this activity which markets over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements, the financial information agency reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
PAI Partners, which was originally the main investment arm of the former investment bank Paribas, manages more than €26 billion in assets through its various funds. The group has made 49 equity investments in France over the past 30 years. He notably held a stake in the third French pharmaceutical group Ipsen between 1998 and 2006.
Currently, the fund holds around ten holdings in the health sector, notably in the capital of the French Theramex (women’s health) and Amplitude Surgical (orthopedic surgery). It is also present in the industrial sector (11 current participations) and mass consumption (16 active participations), where it is a shareholder in particular of Tropicana Brands Group, Labeyrie, Compagnie des Desserts, Interflora, etc.
Sanofi announced in October 2023 its intention to spin off its consumer health division, no earlier than the last quarter of 2024, in order to focus on innovative drugs and vaccines. The sales process “started on June 3 and the date for submission of offers is scheduled for around mid-July”said the source.
Read alsoSanofi launches tender to sell its non-prescription division
Sanofi says it is studying “possible separation scenarios”but estimates in its 2023 universal registration document that “the route most likely to be taken would be that of an operation on the capital markets through the creation of a company listed on the stock exchange whose headquarters would be in Paris”. The consumer health segment, which has 11,000 employees, achieved 5.18 billion euros in sales last year out of a total turnover of more than 43 billion euros.
