Triton's Pharmanovia tipped as 2023 sale candidate

Rachel Lewis and Christel Thunell
02 November 2022

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Corporate advisors expect Triton to launch a sale of UK-headquartered specialty pharma asset Pharmanovia next year, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

Triton is expected to allocate a mandate in the first half of 2023, two of the sources said, with the other adding that it could come up for mandate as early as this year.

The sponsor is also closely monitoring the debt markets, waiting for liquid financing to re-open before starting a process, said one of the sources, adding that the exit is mostly likely to be a sale to another private equity fund.

Bringing in a minority investor and then looking to a public listing in 2024 could also be an option, said the same source. This strategy has been replicated at Cheplapharm, a German family-owned peer, which brought in EUR 550m growth capital from Atlantic Park and GIC with an IPO "remaining on the cards," as reported.

The company recorded GBP 226m (EUR 260m) in sales in FY21, according to a Mansfield Advisors report. A deal could be value in the EUR 2.5bn – EUR 3bn range, one of the sources said.

Among deals in the space is EQT's take private of Swedish specialty pharma company Karo for 11.6x revenue in 2019, according to Mergermarket data. More recently EQT acquired the remaining 13.6% stake in Karo at a 7.08x revenue multiple, the same data reads.

Nordic Capital also this week exited specialty diagnostics company The Binding Site to US trade buyer Thermo Fisher for an 11.8x revenue multiple.

Pharmanovia recorded EBITDA of EUR 112m in the year to 31 March 2021, nearly 3x growth on EUR 29m for nine months of 2020, according to its most recent filed accounts.

Its revenue in the same period was EUR 253m, up from EUR 111m, according to the same accounts.

The company was established as Atnahs Pharma which acquired the remaining stake it did not own in Pharmanovia in 2018. Triton then purchased a majority stake in the business in 2019.

Pharmanovia sells, markets and distributes branded prescription medicines globally. The company says it is a preferred acquirer for large-cap or specialty pharma companies choosing to divest established brands, according to its website.

It bought five drugs from AstraZeneca and a few from Roche – including Valium – in 2020. Four of these drugs contributed to the company's top five drugs that generated 50% of revenue in 2021, according to the Mansfield Advisors' report.

Cardiovascular remains the company's largest segment, followed by endocrinology which houses Bonviva, the number one product by value in the portfolio, according to the report.

Neurology was the company's largest segment before it acquired the cardiovascular drugs from AstraZeneca, the report reads. In September, Pharmanovia entered into an exclusive licence and supply agreement with Aquestive Therapeutics for its patented diazepam buccal film formulation in EMEA, a novel way to treat acute epilepsy seizures.

In July, it acquired commercial rights in China for Rocaltrol, an active form of vitamin D for treating osteoporosis, after owning global rights excluding China and Japan since 2020.

Triton and Pharmanovia declined to comment.