Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd have expressed interest in a buyout of the controlling stake that two families have in Brazilian drugmaker Hypermarcas SA, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
The owners of investment vehicles Igarapava Participações SA and Maiorem SA de CV, which hold a combined 34 percent of Hypermarcas, hired Banco Bradesco SA and Credit Suisse Group AG to advise them on options for their stakes, including a sale, said the people.
According to one of the people, who requested anonymity because the matter is private, the purchase of the stakes that Brazilian billionaire João Alves Queiroz Filho and the Mexican family that own Igarapava and Maiorem, respectively, would automatically trigger a buyout of minority shareholders.
Shares of Hypermarcas closed 3.8 percent up at 30.35 reais on Monday, on optimism that a deal could boost the company’s $6 billion market value. The stock had extended gains after the Reuters report, rising more than 7 percent to an all-time high of 31.38 reais.
None of the potential bidders have yet delivered formal, binding proposals, one of the people said, noting that there is no certainty a deal will be struck.
In a securities filing, Hypermarcas was informed by the investors in those vehicles about “the inexistence of any attempts to sell their stakes in the company.” The banks and Takeda did not immediately have a comment.
J&J and Novartis declined to comment on market speculation.
Interest in Hypermarcas from foreign pharmaceutical behemoths comes after Brazil’s largest listed drug producer spent the past two years focusing on over-the-counter medicines. Hypermarcas raised some $1.5 billion from the sale of personal care brands to Coty Inc, Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc and Ontex Group NV.
O Globo columnist Lauro Jardim reported on Sunday, without citing how he obtained the information, that billionaire tycoon Queiroz and his family were discussing a potential sale of their stakes with a number of unidentified foreign companies.
By Tatiana Bautzer and Guillermo Parra-Bernal
Source: Reuters
Airnov provides critical healthcare industries with high-quality, controlled atmosphere packaging, to protect their products from moisture and oxygen. The business has manufacturing facilities in the USA, France, China and India and employs around 700 people.
Takeda of Japan has partnered with Hong Kong-based Hutchmed, gaining the commercial rights to colorectal cancer drug fruquintinib outside of China for $400 million up front, plus $730 million in potential milestone payments. Takeda also will help develop fruquintinib, which can be applied to subtypes of refractory metastatic colorectal cancer, regardless of biomarker status, the companies said.
On April 3, Scangos, who’s been chief executive officer at Vir since the start of 2017, will hand over the reins to Marianne De Backer, Ph.D. De Backer comes over from Bayer, where she currently heads up pharmaceutical strategy, business development and licensing. Alongside her CEO appointment, De Backer is set to join Vir’s board of directors, the company said Wednesday.
