Lonza to acquire Capsugel for $5.5 billion

Lonza Group AG, Basel, Switzerland has entered an agreement to acquire Capsugel from the private equity group KKR for $5.5 billion in cash, including refinancing of existing Capsugel debt of approximately $2 billion. The Boards of Directors of both Lonza and Capsugel have approved the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017 and is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.  

Lonza said the acquisition is in line with its stated strategy to accelerate growth and deliver value along the healthcare continuum by complementing its existing offerings and by opening up new market opportunities in the pharma and consumer healthcare and nutrition industries. With the acquisition of Capsugel, Lonza will add a trusted brand with a large breadth of technologies and will expand the market reach of its contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and products businesses.  

It will also support Lonza’s strategic ambition of getting closer to the patient and end consumer. The acquisition is designed to create a leading integrated, value-added solutions provider in drug development, formulation, delivery technologies and manufacturing for the global pharma and consumer healthcare industries.  

The combined business will be positioned to benefit from the dynamics in these industries and to anticipate and address technology trends in order to support the evolving needs of its customers, the companies said. It will provide additional value by offering an integrated portfolio of industry-leading technologies, from active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) through excipients to dosage forms and delivery technologies.  

Pfizer had previously sold Capsugel to KKR for nearly $2.38 billion in April 2011. Since that time Capsugel acquired a range of companies, including Bend Research Inc., which specializes in bioavailability enhancement, Xcelience, a CDMO, and Powdersize, a contract manufacturer with expertise in particle-size reduction and control technologies, as well as other new dosage technologies.