CVC Capital Partners and Belgian investment group Groupe Bruxelles Lambert announced a €10.7 billion ($12.4 billion) cash offer for Italian drugmaker Recordati on Friday, with plans to take the company private.
Italy’s pharmaceutical industry, which remains highly fragmented, has experienced increased deal activity in recent months as companies look to expand their scale and global presence. Earlier, Angelini revealed a $4.1 billion acquisition of U.S.-listed Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, while Chiesi agreed to acquire U.S.-based KalVista Pharmaceuticals for approximately $2 billion.
CVC Capital Partners, which has controlled a vehicle holding a 46.8% stake in Recordati since 2018, submitted a non-binding expression of interest in late March to acquire all outstanding shares of the company and take it private.
At the time, Recordati said the preliminary proposal was subject to several conditions, including securing partners to support the acquisition bid.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the move to delist Recordati is intended to provide greater flexibility for exploring strategic opportunities, including potential acquisitions and expansion across its various business segments, with the goal of unlocking additional value.
From Family Pharmacy to Global Healthcare Business
Founded nearly 100 years ago by Giovanni Recordati as a family-owned pharmacy in central Italy, Recordati has grown into a diversified healthcare company with operations spanning primary care, consumer health, and rare disease treatments.
Recordati also supplies pharmaceutical products and services to other drugmakers through its chemicals division.
The statement added that a group of investors, including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Recordati chairman Andrea Recordati, will invest alongside CVC Capital Partners and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert.
The offer aims to secure at least a 66.67% voting stake in Recordati, which would give the bidding group enough control to pass shareholder resolutions requiring a qualified majority.
This includes the possible approval of a merger involving the acquisition vehicle launched for the offer an option the bidders said they could consider if shareholder acceptances do not reach the 90% threshold needed to complete a full delisting of the company.
The consortium led by CVC and GBL confirmed a preliminary cash offer of €51.29 per share, excluding dividends. The proposed price represents a 12.89% premium to Recordati’s closing share price on March 25, the day before the company disclosed CVC’s non-binding proposal.
“At the offer price, we do not view the transaction as attractive for Recordati investors”, Giorgio Tavolini, an analyst at broker Intermonte, adding the offer would need to be raised for a delisting.
However, the fact that Recordati shares were trading close to the offer price on Friday suggested that investors see little room for a higher bid, according to Tavolini.
He also noted that some investors may currently view the transaction more as a restructuring among Recordati’s major shareholders rather than a traditional take-private acquisition.
