Biofarma: business and pledges of the Italian company bought by the French from Ardian
The French private equity fund Ardian will control Biofarma, the Friulian group where banks have a significant weight among pledges, mortgages and derivatives. The article by Emanuela Rossi
There is space for the French private equity fund Ardian in Biofarma, the Friulian group leader in Italy and among the first in Europe for the production and packaging of food supplements, medical devices, probiotic-based drugs and cosmetics for third parties . The operation, which the Reuters agency reported before the official communication, will bring 1.1 billion euros through the White Bridge Investments fund into the coffers of the company chaired by Germano Scarpa who in 1987 founded the first core of Biofarma after years working as a medical informant.
WHO IS, WHAT IT DOES AND SOME NUMBERS OF BIOFARMA GROUP
The main headquarters of Biofarma are in Mereto di Tomba, in the province of Udine, but other production sites are distributed between Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Lombardy (in addition to Mereto, Gallarate, Cusano Milanino and San Pietro Viminaro). From the group's website we learn that Biofarma can count on 800 collaborators, 500 customers and 2,000 products and that it boasts 170 production and packaging lines, 100 thousand square meters dedicated to logistics, 3 R&D laboratories. Biofarma is active in 4 sectors: food supplements (in which it produces 847 million capsules, 1.71 billion tablets, 342 million sachets, 61 million blisters every year), drugs with probiotics and medical devices – for various therapeutic areas including including immune system, mental well-being, vitamins and minerals – and cosmetics (in which it has 38 packaging lines).
In February 2020 Biofarma acquired Nutrilinea and to date almost 50% of the turnover is developed on international markets, benefiting from the partnership with various global customers. Just a month ago, it also announced the acquisition of the Giellepi SpA business unit, thus consolidating its presence on the international market with nutraceuticals and ready-to-market medical devices complete with clinical studies, under license for important multinationals. At the end of 2021, turnover was seen to grow by 14% for the second consecutive year despite the post-pandemic crisis.
As for the numbers, the latest balance sheet speaks of a profit as of December 31, 2020 of over 4.1 million, down from the 7.7 of a year earlier, and of over 90 million in revenues compared to 77.6 of December 2019. At the same date, payables to banks amounted to 47.8 million and those to suppliers to 15 million for a total of over 66.2 million. At the end of 2020, Biofarma had five mortgages, one of which maturing on 31/12/2022 (Medio Credito FVG), one on 31/12/2023 (Montepaschi), two on 31/12/2025 (Banco Bpm and Intesa Sanpaolo) and one 12/31/2026 (Banco Bpm and Intesa Sanpaolo). The loan with Medio Credito FVG had a mortgage on a property for 4.16 million, the one with Mps with a mortgage on a property for 13.12 million and the other three with a pledge on shares.
In addition, at 31 December 2020 – the document reads – “a derivative hedging financial instrument was recognized in the liabilities in the balance sheet under item B.3, for 743,630 euros. It should be noted that the contract meets the definition of a derivative financial instrument since its value varies according to the change in an interest rate, it does not require an initial net investment (or it requires an initial net investment that is less than what would be required for other types of contracts ), is settled at a future date ".
The latest financial statements also inform that to "protect itself from the change in the value of interest rates on loans received", the group has subscribed seven derivative financial instruments to hedge the fair value with Intesa San Paolo on a loan of 8 million, out of one of 5 million and on one of 5.25 million and with Banco Bpm respectively on a loan of 4.75 million, 8 million and 5.05 million. A final financial instrument was then subscribed with Credit Agricole Friuladria on a loan of 5 million.
THE OPERATION WITH THE ARDIAN FUND
Returning to the acquisition of 70% of Biofarma by the Ardian fund, this is the second investment in a European pharmaceutical contract development and production operator (CDMO) in the last 12 months after supporting the purchase by EQT in June. of the Swedish company Recipharm. The Japanese bank Nomura, Bnp and Mediobanca collaborated with the private equity fund as advisor while Canson Capital Partners and Ethica assisted White Bridge Investments.
In the note announcing the operation it was emphasized that the founding family, in the persons of Germano Scarpa and Gabriella Tavasani, will reinvest alongside Ardian and that Maurizio Castorina will remain at the helm of the company as CEO. “The operation with Ardian – commented Castorina – will allow the Biofarma group to become the first Global Player in the nutraceutical sector. Furthermore, the new resources will allow us to continue the excellent path of growth and aggregation achieved in recent years thanks to the support of White Bridge Investments, evaluating new interesting opportunities for international expansion in Europe, in APAC and in the United States ". According to Yann Chareton, CEO of Ardian, the “nutraceutical sector is benefiting from strong growth driven by centuries-old trends such as the importance given to prevention and represents an Italian excellence recognized worldwide. We have identified in Biofarma the technological leader and the natural consolidator of the sector ".
Reuters reports that the global nutraceuticals market was valued at around $ 454 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand through 2030 at an annual growth rate of 9%, according to US consultancy Grand View Research. In fact, the growing demand for food supplements is expected to be a driving factor in the post-pandemic world.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/biofarma-ardian/ on Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:58:30 +0000.