BC Partners buys Aenova from Bridgepoint

Greg Gille
06 August 2012

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BC Partners has acquired German pharmaceutical manufacturer Aenova Group from Bridgepoint in a transaction understood to be valued at slightly less than €500m.

Bridgepoint confirmed at the end of May that it was in the process of appointing Morgan Stanley to advise on options for the company, including a potential sale. Earlier reports estimated that Aenova could fetch up to €400m.

Aenova was established in 2008 through the merger of two Bridgepoint investments: the GP acquired Swiss Caps from its founder in 2005 and Dragenopharm, also from its founder, in 2007.

BC Partners foresees growing the business organically and through further bolt-ons. The private equity house closed its latest European buyout vehicle, BC European Capital IX, on its €6.5bn hard-cap in February this year.

Debt
JP Morgan provided a debt package to finance the transaction; leverage accounts for around 50% of deal value.

Previous funding
Besides the merger, which Bridgepoint stated took the business from nine to six manufacturing sites and delivered cost savings, the GP also introduced a new management team to head the business. Aenova also invested in excess of €50m in new product development and R&D following the merger.

Under Bridgepoint ownership, Aenova delivered a compound EBITDA growth rate of 13% from 2009 to 2012.

Company
Aenova was formed through the merger of Swiss Caps and Dragenopharm. The former was a contract soft capsule manufacturer of vitamins, minerals, supplements and pharma products. The latter was a German contract manufacturer for the generic prescription drugs market.

Aenova is now a full-service supplier to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. The Pähl-based business operates nine sites in Europe and the US; it employs around 1,600 people.

Aenova posted a €262m turnover and €43.2m of pre-tax earnings in 2011.

People
Stefan Zuschke led the deal for BC Partners. Michael Davy represented Bridgepoint. Heiner Hoppmann is CEO of Aenova.

Advisers
Vendor – PricewaterhouseCoopers (Financial due diligence, tax); BCG (Commercial due diligence); Clifford Chance (Legal); ERM (Environmental due diligence); Marsh (Insurance due diligence); M+W (Operational due diligence).