Private Equity Firm Permira Is Making a Big Bet on Blood Plasma With New Deals

Private equity firm Permira is making a big bet on the promise of medicines derived from blood plasma with a move to acquire two major companies in the sector.

Permira is teaming up with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to buy Italian family-run drugmaker Kedrion Biopharma, it said in a statement Thursday. They will also purchase U.K. blood-plasma firm Bio Products Laboratory Ltd. and combine the two businesses to form a company with 1.1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) of annual sales and more than 4,000 employees globally.

The merged group will offer therapies derived from human blood plasma to help patients with compromised immune systems and bleeding disorders. Permira plans to continue expanding the business internationally and developing new products, as well as pursuing further acquisitions to create a specialist in rare disease treatments, according to the statement.

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Italy’s FSI fund and the Marcucci family, which are existing investors in Kedrion, will own stakes in the combined entity. Permira and ADIA will have a controlling stake in the business, it said in the statement.

Bloomberg News reported in December that Permira was nearing a deal for BPL and was also pursuing Kedrion. The transaction provides an exit for BPL’s Chinese owner, Creat Group Corp., which was stymied by U.S. regulators in its attempt to build a global blood plasma business.

Source: BNN Bloomberg

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