Sanofi is finalizing discussions with the American investment fund CD&R in order to sell it 50% of Opella, its subsidiary which markets Doliprane.
:quality(50)/2023/07/05/64a55fd777de4_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Updated
Reading time: 1min
:quality(50)/2024/10/20/000-36k63xw-671545c3a4dbb388996565.jpg)
“We have obtained guarantees for the maintenance and development of Opella in France”, announced on X, Sunday October 20 the Minister of Economy and Finance, Antoine Armand. Later in the evening, Bercy announced “a tripartite agreement” between the State, Sanofi and the American investment fund CD&R to sell it 50% of Opella, its subsidiary which houses around a hundred brands of non-prescription products around the world, including Doliprane. According to the minister, the government’s requirements “on employment, production and investment will be respected”. To do this, “the State, via BpiFrance, will be a shareholder to ensure this”.
We have obtained guarantees for the maintenance and development of Opella in France.
Our demands on employment, production and investment will be respected. For Doliprane and other essential medicines in the country.
L’Etat, via @Bpifrancewill be a shareholder for…
— Antoine Armand (@antoine_armand) October 20, 2024
Asked about the role of Bpifrance in this matter, the general director of the public investment bank, Nicolas Dufourcq, said he was on his side “agree to go with the winner of the auction”in an interview in The Tribune on Sunday. He underlined the legitimacy of Bpifrance in becoming a co-shareholder, recalling the public bank’s investments in health and especially in the chemist Seqens (which is building a paracetamol factory, the active ingredient in Doliprane, in Isère), and highlights its ambitions in the sector with 10 billion euros of investments to be deployed in health “in the years to come.”