Lonza Buys Capsugel

Lonza Group AG has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Capsugel from KKR for $5.5 billion in cash, including refinancing of existing Capsugel debt of approximately $2 billion. The acquisition—designed to create a leading integrated, value-added solutions provider in drug development, formulation, delivery technologies and manufacturing— is fully in line with Lonza's 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, the company said.
 
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 combined business will be well positioned to benefit from dynamics in nutrition, pharm aand consumer healthcare industries and to anticipate and address technology trends in order to support the evolving needs of its customers. 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, Lonza said.
 
With approximately 3,600 employees and 13 facilities on three continents, Capsugel has a customer-centric, entrepreneurial and collaborative culture that closely aligns with Lonza's corporate culture. Both companies focus on quality, operational excellence and delivering on promises.
 
“The acquisition of Capsugel meets Lonza's strategic and financial goals. It accelerates our healthcare continuum strategy by giving us broader exposure to the fast-growing pharma and consumer healthcare markets,” said Richard Ridinger, CEO of Lonza. “This new integrated approach will benefit our customers, who will gain from the simplicity and efficiency of working with one company that can provide world-leading support from APIs to excipients and dosage forms. The combined business will allow us to partner with our customers to help them bring highly differentiated products to market more quickly and efficiently.”
 
“Both companies enjoy a strong quality and regulatory track record, and we believe that the combination enables us to provide the most complete set of tailored and integrated solutions for our customers. We look forward to bringing together our talented teams to deliver science- and engineering-based solutions to customers for the benefit of the patients and consumers who use their products. I am personally committed to making this integration a success.”
 
KKR acquired Capsugel five years ago.