Temasek’s 65 Equity makes Europe foray with Swiss pharma merger
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65 Equity Partners is financing Healthcare Advanced Synthesis’ acquisition of Cerbios-Pharma (above) and will become a shareholder with about a 40 per cent stake in the merged entity.
PHOTO: CERBIOS-PHARMA
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London – Asset manager 65 Equity Partners is backing Swiss pharmaceutical ingredient maker Healthcare Advanced Synthesis’ (HAS) acquisition of Cerbios-Pharma, marking its first deal in Europe.
The investor, owned by Singapore’s Temasek, is financing HAS’ acquisition of Cerbios and will become a shareholder with a stake of about 40 per cent in the merged entity, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News.
The Braglia family, which used to fully own HAS, will own the remainder of the new firm, with Cerbios holders selling out.
The deal values the combined company at about US$380 million (S$510 million), according to people familiar with the matter.
HAS is a developer and producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and anti-cancer compounds, while Cerbios makes ingredients including in the area of antibody drug conjugates.
“It’s very rare, at the get-go, to get an opportunity to put together two family-backed companies with the full buy-in of the owners,” 65 Equity’s European co-head Pascal Heberling said in an interview.
“This, we hope, will become the blueprint of our dealmaking. This type of industrial consolidation is in our DNA.”
Investors have been keen to expand in the contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) sector, with an increasing number of large drugmakers outsourcing these functions.
Partners Group Holding bought a stake in British pharmaceutical manufacturing services provider Sterling Pharma Solutions in 2023.
Bain Capital announced the acquisition of Fabbrica Italiana Sintetici, a developer and manufacturer of small molecule APIs and intermediates, in the same year.
65 Equity plans on integrating HAS and Cerbios before pursuing other acquisitions in the broader CDMO space, Mr Heberling said.
“Our capital will pave the way for industry consolidation, beginning with this deal,” he said.
Temasek launched the firm in 2021 with a broad mandate to support businesses willing to expand into Singapore and join the local stock exchange.
65 Equity is led by chief executive Tan Chong Lee. It manages about US$3.3 billion and typically writes cheques of US$50 million to US$150 million to back family-owned and founder-led companies.
It has allocated about US$1.5 billion of its funds under management for European and US investments. BLOOMBERG
