the State has obtained guarantees and will be a shareholder – L’Express

2024-10-20 19:30:00

The Doliprane divestment saga may soon come to an end. “A tripartite agreement” has been reached between the State, the pharmaceutical group Sanofi and the American fund CD & R for the sale of the subsidiary of the over-the-counter pharmaceutical group Opella, which markets Doliprane, Bercy indicated on Sunday 20 October.

“We have achieved the highest possible level of guarantees in the discussions” on this issue, the Ministers of Economy and Industry specified, while “the State, through Bpifrance, will be a shareholder to guarantee it”. “Our employment, production and investment needs will be met for Doliprane and other essential medicines in the country,” he indicated ONshortly before, the Minister of Economy, Antoine Armand, announced the entry into the capital of Bpifrance – up to 1%, according to The Echoes.

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“Sanofi accepted high demands”

Having “a state representative on the board of directors” of Opella is an “additional control point” to monitor compliance with these commitments which are “associated with heavy financial sanctions”, the two ministerial cabinets added. “Sanofi accepted high demands,” according to them.

The improved offer, announced on Thursday, by another takeover candidate, the French investment fund PAI Partners, backed by international investors, was therefore unsuccessful. Sanofi announced on October 11 that it is negotiating with CD & R, a large American fund that has been investing in France for about fifteen years (in particular in Rexel, Spie, Socotec, But and Conformama) and supports several pharmaceutical companies, such as Early and Sharp.

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The participation of the public investment bank Bpifrance in the operation, registered on Sunday evening, is a means by which the government obtains a right of review on the strategic orientations adopted by the new foreign shareholder.

The pharmaceutical group has assured from day one that “this project will have no impact on employment in France” and that it aims to grow Opella by counting on a financial partner ready to invest in this market closer to mass consumption than to pharmaceutical activity. The unions fear a “social collapse” of the 1,700 jobs that Opella has on French soil, including 480 at the Compiègne site (Oise) and 250 at the Lisieux (Calvados) plant, dedicated to this best-selling drug in France.