CDMO heavyweight Catalent is acquiring compatriot Metrics Contract Services, a full-service specialty CDMO with a facility in Greenville, North Carolina, for $475 million. Mayne Pharma Group is the seller.
Gilead Sciences has agreed to acquire MiroBio, a privately held UK biotech focused on treating inflammatory diseases, for about $405 million in cash.
Amgen is beefing up its inflammatory diseases portfolio with an agreement to buy US biopharma ChemoCentryx for roughly $3.7 billion. The deal gives Amgen access to vasculitis treatment Tavneos.
Pfizer is paying $5.4 billion to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT), a drugmaker specialized in treating blood disorders. It is one of several deals the company has inked recently to offset dwindling sales from its vaccine and therapeutics for Covid-19.
The consolidation in the distribution sector continues. In the latest deal, Life Sciences distributor Barentz International has announced the acquisition of Volp Indústria e Comércio, a Brazilian distributor of supplies and solutions for the Personal Care sector.
Univar Solutions has bought Vicom Distribución Productos Quimicos, a specialty chemicals distributor operating in Spain and Portugal, in its first acquisition of the year.
Australian biopharma CSL said this week it has received all the regulatory clearance required to take over Switzerland’s Vifor. The acquisition announced in December 2021 temporarily stalled in May 2022.
Trinseo has suspended plans for the sale of its styrenics business because of the current macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. The company announced last November that it had begun exploring a potential divestment of the business, formally launching a sales process in the first quarter of this year.
Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien has agreed to buy Brazil’s Casa do Adubo, boosting its growth in both Brazil and the Latin American region. Financial terms were not revealed.
French specialty chemicals producer Arkema has announced it will acquire privately owned Mexican company Polimeros Especiales, a producer of high performance waterborne resins for applications in architectural and decorative paints, textiles, pressure sensitive adhesives and construction.
Azelis is acquiring Chemical Solutions (ChemSol), a distributor of raw materials for the personal care, cosmetics and household market segments in Malaysia.
US-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $320 million in cash to acquire ViaCyte, a compatriot private cellular therapy company specializing in a treatment for type-1 diabetes (T1D). The transaction is expected to close later this year.
Solvias, a Swiss CDMO serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, material science and cosmetic industries, has acquired Dutch biotech Cergentis for an undisclosed sum. The deal bolsters Solvias’ platform of biologics and cell and gene therapy (CGT) testing solutions.
Brazilian oil group Petrobras has finalized the sale of its entire 27.88% stake in linear alkyl benzene (LAB) producer Deten Quimica to Spanish energy and petrochemicals group CEPSA Quimica for 514 million Brazilian reais.
US-based Koch Ag & Energy Solutions (KAES) has acquired a 50% stake in Jorf Fertilizers Company III (JFC III) from Moroccan phosphates and fertilizer giant OCP and at the same time established a 50:50 joint venture with OCP.
Azelis is continuing its recent acquisition spree with agreements to buy two more companies in Lebanon and Turkey.
Malaysian petrochemicals giant Petronas Group (PCG) has conditionally agreed to acquire all of Swedish chemical producer Perstorp from Financière Forêt, a European private equity investor belonging to PAI Partners.
Major drugmaker Pfizer has agreed to buy US biotech Biohaven Pharmaceutical for around $11.6 billion. Founded in 2013 and based in New Haven, Connecticut, Biohaven specializes in drugs that target neurological diseases and rare disorders.
Mergers & acquisitions activity in the chemical distribution industry was high in 2021, but current macro-economic conditions may have a dampening effect on the number of deals that will conclude by the end of this year.
North American biochemical companies Lygos and Flexible Solutions International (FSI) have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction. The move follows a strategic investment made by FSI in Lygos in February 2021.
US paintmaker PPG has agreed to sell certain business activities in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon and Algeria, to French industrial group Océinde. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Viatris, the new US pharma created in the 2020 merger of Mylan and Pfizer’s Upjohn off-patent franchise, is selling its biosimilars portfolio to Biocon Biologics for up to $3.35 billion. Terms of the deal foresee Biocon paying $2 billion upfront, $1 billion in convertible preferred equity and $335 million in additional payments.
South African energy and chemical company Sasol has sold German subsidiary Sasol Wax to Awax, an Italian specialist in developing, producing and distributing wax products. The transaction excludes the South African Fischer-Tropsch hard wax business, which also includes the part that is managed by Sasol Wax.
US biopharma AbbVie is to take over Belgian biotech Syndesi Therapeutics, in a move that will expand its neuroscience portfolio. Under the agreed terms, AbbVie will pay Syndesi shareholders an upfront sum of $130 million, with potential additional payments of up to $870 million contingent on achieving certain milestones.
Major US-based multinational energy company Chevron has agreed to buy Renewable Energy Group (REG) in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.15 billion. Both companies’ boards of directors have approved the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2022. REG shareholders have yet to give their approval.
Germany’s Merck has completed the acquisition of US biopharmaceutical CDMO Exelead for $780 million in cash following the fulfillment of all closing conditions. The takeover plans were announced in January this year.
Arkema is buying Shanghai Zhiguan Polymer Materials (PMP), a Chinese company that specializes in reactive hot-melt polyurethane (HMPUR) adhesives for the consumer electronics market. Financial terms of the deal, which is scheduled to close this quarter, were not disclosed.
DuPont has agreed to sell most of its Mobility & Materials (M&M) segment to Celanese for $11 billion on a cash and debt-free basis. The deal – DuPont’s biggest since splitting from DowDuPont – is expected to close around the end of this year, subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions.
German distribution group Oqema has acquired Alpkem, a Slovenia-based firm with its main offices in Kranj. Oqema said the deal strengthens its inorganic product line and circular economy business, as well as its infrastructure in southeast Europe. Financial terms were not disclosed.
French pharma Ipsen has entered into exclusive negotiations for the sale of its global consumer healthcare business to compatriot firm Mayoly Spindler. The move, said Ipsen, is a major step forward in its strategy to sharpen its focus on specialty care.
US paints and coatings group PPG has entered into an agreement to buy the powder coatings business of Italian company Arsonsisi, boosting its offering in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Arsonsisi’s powder coating sales reached about $15 million last year.
Clariant has signed definitive agreements to divest its 50% stake in the joint venture that owns Scientific Design Company to its long-term joint venture partner, SABIC. The Saudi group will execute a call option raised in 2015 to acquire the stake in the business bought by Germany’s Süd-Chemie in 2003 prior to its acquisition by Clariant.
Hexion Holdings has completed the sale of its epoxy-based coatings and composites portfolio to Westlake Chemical for $1.2 billion. The deal comprises the epoxy specialty resins and base epoxy resins and intermediates product lines. Prior to the sale, Hexion had announced it would split into two independent companies.
US adhesives maker H.B. Fuller has purchased Apollo, the UK’s largest independent manufacturer of liquid adhesives, coatings and primers for the commercial roofing, industrial and construction markets.
With Germany’s foreign trade clearance still missing on the deal’s agreed Jan. 31 closing date, Munich-based Wacker Chemie declared its plans to sell its remaining 30.8% stake in silicon wafers manufacturer Siltronic to Taiwan’s GlobalWafers officially dead. For now, at least.
