New Pharma Services JV of DSM and JLL Launched
DPx Holdings, the new global contract development and manufacturing joint venture of Dutch chemical producer DSM with U.S. private equity firm JLL Partners, was launched on Mar. 11.
The company headquartered at Durham, North Carolina in the U.S. and owned to 51% by JLL results from a $2.65 deal between the private equity group and the chemical company announced in November 2013. With more than 8,000 employees at 24 locations on four continents, it expects $2 billion in annual sales.
With businesses put together from the assets of DSM Pharmaceutical Products, JLL-owned Patheon and Banner Life Sciences, DPx will be the corporate parent of three distinct brands focused on pharmaceutical services, fine chemicals and proprietary products and technologies.
Pharmaceutical Services will be grouped under the Patheon name and will include commercial manufacturing capabilities, pharmaceutical product development serves as well as biosolutions and biologics.
Fine chemicals, including the ES/IM and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) business, will trade as DSM Fine Chemicals.
Proprietary products and technologies will be operated under the Banner Life Sciences name.
While Patheon will be an integrated supply model, offering a full range of drug development and manufacturing services, DSM Fine Chemicals will handle complex APIs and finished dosages. Banner Life Sciences will supply its own proprietary and nutraceutical products.
In announcing the plans late last year, the prospective partners said Patheon CEO Jim Mullen, would be CEO of the new venture. At the time, Mullen told journalists that his company's customers "have indicated a strong desire to streamline their outsourcing network and at the same time, increase their outsourcing", adding that "they want to work with fewer companies with broader capabilities."
DSM, world leader in vitamins, has spent more than €2.2 billion since 2010 buying into less cyclical businesses such as food ingredients and high-end plastics, and moving away from lower-margin bulk chemicals.
