Posted Sep 29, 2022, 2:15 PMUpdated Sep 29, 2022, 3:34 PM
A historical jewel of industry in the Alpes-Maritimes is going under a foreign flag. Created in 1980 in the industrial zone of Carros, near Nice, the Arkopharma pharmaceutical laboratory presents itself as the European leader in phytotherapy. It is taken over by the German Dermapharm, located in Bavaria. The transfer of ownership will be effective in January, after the finalization of the regulatory steps such as the consultation of the staff. The private equity firm Montagu Private Equity acquired Arkopharma shares from the founder’s children for 300 million euros in 2014. It signed an exclusive contract with Dermapharm to sell all of its shares to the German group.
Excluding debt recovery, estimated at 200 million euros, Dermapharm, whose turnover is around one billion euros, must pay 450 million to buy the French laboratory. The latter should, for its part, post a turnover of more than 200 million in 2022, growing by almost 10%, according to its CEO, Eric Panijel. For the German, present on the market for conventional drugs, vaccines (it notably produces the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19) and traditional OTC products (free access in pharmacies), the acquisition allows it to develop in the natural medicine and dietary supplement segment, where it had little investment.
