All that smoke hovering around a prospective Nycomed buyout cleared early this morning as Japan's Takeda announced it had wrapped a $13.7 billion deal for the Swiss biotech. The acquisition gives Takeda immediate entry into some key emerging markets. And the private equity owners at Nycomed break away with a new, independent dermatology company actively engaged in new drug development, commercialization and manufacturing.
Deal analysts at Bloomberg crunched the numbers, concluding Takeda was paying a multiple of 3.4 times annual sales for the company, lower than the 4.1 multiple they've been tracking in the latest string of pharma buyouts. In return, Takeda expands its R&D empire with four new research hubs in Europe and India, a string of production centers around the world, as well as the recently acquired Chinese biotech Techpool Bio-Pharma Co.
What Takeda does not get in the deal is Nycomed US, a separate and substantial dermatology unit with 700 workers and around $500 million in annual sales which is based in Melville, NY. Nordic Capital, Credit Suisse and Avista Capital hang on to that operation, laying the groundwork for new pacts ahead.
"The U.S. Dermatology Specialty Business is of the highest quality and is a leader in the dermatology field in the US," said Nycomed CEO Hakan Bjorklund. "It has made a significant contribution to Nycomed and we believe has a highly promising future under the new and highly supportive ownership structure."
"This transaction will enable us to continue to invest and grow as a stand-alone specialty company, and to work directly with our investors to capitalize on the many opportunities available in the dermatology market today," said Steve Andrzejewski, who helms the operation.
- here's the press release on the dermatology spin off
- get the Bloomberg report
- check out the Dow Jones story