By Clemens Bomsdorf
COPENHAGEN--Denmark's privately-held holding company Novo A/S
said Tuesday it has acquired Xellia Pharmaceuticals for $700
million from 3i Group PLC (III.LN) and other shareholders.
MAIN FACTS:
-Xellia develops and produces anti-infective products for
multi-drug resistant infections.
-Novo A/S is the holding company of the Novo Group and is the
major shareholder in Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO), Novozymes A/S
(NZYM-B.KO) and Chr. Hansen A/S (CHR.KO). It is fully owned by the
Novo Nordisk Foundation.
-With Novo as owner, Xellia will enhance its focus on R&D
and expand its global manufacturing footprint to further scale its
finished-dosage-form (FDF) business.
-"The products that Xellia supplies...are manufactured by use of
fermentation technologies, which is a manufacturing approach
similar to that of Novo Nordisk, Novozymes and Chr. Hansen," said
Novo CEO Henrik Gurtler.
-Novo will be a long-term owner of Xellia and will move the
headquarters to Denmark.
-The transaction is expected to close in 3Q 2013.
Write to Clemens Bomsdorf at clemens.bomsdorf@dowjones.com
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