MIG in €1.3bn Ganymed trade sale

Katharina Semke
11 November 2016

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MIG Fonds and other backers have sold German biotech business Ganymed to Japanese trade buyer Astellas Pharma for up to €1.3bn.

Acquirer Astellas paid €422m up front and agreed to an additional €860m in further contingent payments based on progress in Ganymed's research.

Private Equity fund MIG and Future Capital, an investment initiative of the Hessen state government and Hoechst (now Sanofi Group), held minority stakes. The company's founders and the management were also invested. The majority (72%) of the shares were held by the Strüngmann family, the former owners of German pharma company Hexal, via their family office ATS Beteiligungsverwaltung.

The transaction is expected to close in the next few weeks.

Previous funding
Back in 2002, Ganymed received its first round of funding with a €8.85m capital injection by Nextech Invest, Süd Venture Capital Investition, Future Capital and Venture Incubator, according to unquote" data.

Three years later, the Mainz-based firm raised €12.7m from its existing investors. In June 2007, MIG joined the venture consortium for the first time, taking part in a €37.2m series-C financing round for Ganymed, alongside Nextech Venture, Future Capital, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, ONC Partners and Swiss venture capital firm Varuma, as well as Swiss private investors. Because the round was oversubscribed, it held a second close in October, when ATS contributed a further €3.5m. Ganymed then raised a further €65m in 2008, when ATS led a financing round that also saw Future Capital, MIG and private investors backing the pharmaceutical firm.

The business then raised €45m in a series-E financing round from MIG and ATS in December 2013. MIG invested via its MIG Fond 6, 12 and 13 vehicles. In March 2015, MCI Management invested approximately $2.5m of growth funding in Ganymed.

Company
Headquartered in Mainz, Ganymed is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2001 that focuses on the development of cancer drugs. Ganymed has several oncology pipeline assets at the pre-clinical and clinical stage.

People
MIG Fonds – Michael Motschmann (chairperson).
Astellas Pharma – Yoshihiko Hatanaka (CEO).
Ganymed Pharmaceuticals – Özlem Türeci (CEO).