Advent International to acquire a significant stake in Suven Pharmaceuticals from the Jasti family
Mumbai : Leading global private equity investor Advent International has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire significant stake in Suven Pharmaceuticals from the Jasti family, subject to regulatory approvals and conditions.
Post the completion of this acquisition, Advent intends to explore the merger of its portfolio company, Cohance Lifesciences (Cohance) with Suven, to build a leading end-to-end CDMO and merchant API player servicing the pharma and specialty chemical markets.
The merger will be evaluated by the board taking into consideration the strategic rationale and accretiveness to Suven’s public shareholders and will be subject to regulatory approvals and other customary approvals. As part of the transaction, Advent will also be making an open offer to acquire additional 26% of the outstanding equity shares of the company from the public shareholders.
Suven Pharma, which was demerged from its parent entity, Suven Life Sciences, in 2020, is one of the leaders in the India pharma CDMO space with high growth (>20% CAGR over last 4 years) and profitability (>43% EBITDA margins). Suven does about 90% of its business with innovators and follows the customer from Phase 1 to commercialization. It has a strong pipeline of Phase 3 and late Phase 2 molecules with 100+ active projects.
Cohance Lifesciences (www.cohance.com), wholly owned by Advent, was formed in November 2022 to create a new brand identity for its CDMO and API platform, with an intention of bringing together three Advent portfolio companies – RA Chem Pharma, ZCL Chemicals and Avra Laboratories. Cohance’s two business units, CDMO and API+, cater to development and manufacturing for pharma and specialty chemical innovators, and leading global generic companies with complex product requirements respectively. It has seven manufacturing facilities. Cohance recorded a total proforma revenue of INR 1,280 crores (FY 2021-22) and has grown at a market leading >21% CAGR organically in the last two years.
“Our vision for Suven is to build a $1 billion global leader, by executing effectively on the product pipeline, building new marquee customers, turbo-charging business development, and scaling up manufacturing and R&D. We will also look at acquiring synergistic businesses globally, to further build capabilities and gain new customer access” said Mr. Pankaj Patwari, Managing Director at Advent International.