(Reuters) – The State will invest via Bpifrance up to 1% to 2% in Opella, the consumer health branch of Sanofi, and will be present on the board of directors of the manufacturer of Doliprane, he announced Monday.
Sanofi confirmed earlier on Monday that it had entered into exclusive negotiations for the sale of a 50% majority stake in Opella to the American private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R).
The possibility of a sale to a foreign actor of a stake in Opella has been closely monitored by the French government for several months.
The State’s entry into the capital takes place within the framework of a tripartite agreement between Sanofi, CD&R and the government.
Bpifrance is expected to participate as a minority shareholder of around 2% and the transaction is expected to be finalized no earlier than the second quarter of 2025, according to a press release published by Sanofi.
“We will be present on the company’s board of directors,” said Bpifrance general manager Nicolas Dufourcq during a press conference, assuring that the French public bank is “not a Potemkin of governance” and that she “will be at the table”.
Nicolas Dufourcq specified that Bpifrance’s investment must represent an amount “between 100 and 150 million euros”.
Asked to know what the duration of the agreement between the State, Sanofi and CD&R will be, the Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand did not respond precisely, declaring that it was “a tripartite agreement which “It is not intended for a certain number of devices to expire over time.”
According to a press release published by the Ministry of the Economy, Bercy considers having obtained “guarantees for the maintenance and development of Opella in France” with “a series of significant clauses which guarantee employment, investments and Opella activity in France.
The ministry specifies that the agreement must guarantee, among other things, “the maintenance of a minimum level of added value produced” on the Lisieux and Compiègne sites “for 5 years”, “the maintenance of the headquarters and R&D activities in France” and “investment in France, with a specific investment objective of 70 million euros cumulative over the next five years”.
FORECAST UPGRADE
Opella, whose enterprise value was established at around 16 billion euros, was also coveted by the PAI Partners fund.
“We have chosen the group that has the best capabilities and the people best suited to help us ensure the long-term success of the company,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said Monday at a conference of press.
“We expect to be involved and working in partnership for a long period of time,” he added when asked about the future of Sanofi’s stake in Opella.
Sanofi also indicated on Monday that it had raised its forecast for growth in net profit per share (EPS) of activities for 2024 due to a strong performance expected in the third quarter, which will be detailed during the publication of results on October 25.
In the scope including Opella, the EPS of activities for this year is expected to increase between 0% and 1% (stable and “low single digit range”) compared to previously expected stability.
Excluding Opella, Sanofi expects activity EPS growth of around 1%.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, Sanofi fell 0.13% to 100.68 euros around 08:10 GMT when the CAC 40 lost 0.21% at the same time.
(Written by Florence Loève and Elena Smirnova, with Dominique Patton, edited by Augustin Turpin and Blandine Hénault)
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