The saga of the sale of Doliprane could soon end. “A tripartite agreement” was reached between the State, the pharmaceutical group Sanofi and the American fund CD & R for the sale of the subsidiary of the pharmaceutical group of non-prescription products Opella, which markets Doliprane, Bercy indicated this Sunday 20 october.
“We have reached the highest possible level of guarantees in the discussions” on this issue, specified the offices of the Ministers of Economy and Industry, while “the State, via Bpifrance, will be a shareholder to ensure this “. “Our requirements on employment, production and investment will be respected. For Doliprane and other essential medicines in the country,” indicated onshortly before, the Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, announcing the entry into the capital of Bpifrance – up to 1%, according to Les Echos.
“Sanofi has agreed to high demands”
The fact of having “a representative of the State 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”, they said. added the two ministerial cabinets. “Sanofi agreed to high demands,” according to them.
The improved offer, announced Thursday, from another takeover candidate, the French investment fund PAI Partners, backed by international investors, was therefore unsuccessful. Sanofi announced on October 11 that it was negotiating with CD & R, a large American fund which has invested in France for around fifteen years (notably in Rexel, Spie, Socotec, But and Conformama) and supports several pharmaceutical companies, such as Inizio and Sharp.
The participation of the public investment bank Bpifrance in the operation, recorded this Sunday evening, is a means for the government to obtain a right of review over the strategic orientations taken by the new foreign shareholder.
The pharmaceutical group has assured since day one that “this project will have no impact on employment in France”, and that it aims to grow Opella by relying on a financial partner ready to invest in this market closer to mass consumption than to pharmaceutical activity. The unions fear a “social breakdown” in the 1,700 jobs that Opella has on French soil, including 480 on its site in Compiègne (Oise) and 250 in its factory in Lisieux (Calvados), dedicated to this best-selling drug in France.