Frankfurt, Germany -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/23/2006 --Downer & Company, an international investment banking firm specializing in mid-market cross border acquisition and divestiture advisory services, is pleased to announce the sale of Novosis AG to Schweizerhall Holding AG. Depending on the achievement of specific milestones, the transaction value is expected to reach over EUR 90 million. The deal closed on 16 March 2006.
Novosis AG is a privately owned specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and manufacture of transdermal, subcutaneous drug delivery systems for the branded and generic pharmaceutical industry. The company, based in Miesbach, Germany, was founded in 1997 by Dr. Wilfried Fischer and has budgeted sales of EUR 16 million for 2006. Schweizerhall Holding AG, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is split into chemical distribution and pharmaceutical divisions and generates total annual sales of about CHF 300 million.
Novosis AG holds a leadership position as a developer and manufacturer of transdermal drug delivery systems within the fast-growing European market. Through this strategic acquisition, Schweizerhall will increase its market position in the area of advanced drug delivery and will invest in product development utilizing Novosis’ proprietary technologies to expand the company’s combined product offerings. Novosis AG will operate as a subsidiary of the Schweizerhall Group and Dr. Wilfried Fischer will continue in the position of CEO of Novosis.
Frank Merkel, Director of Downer & Company’s Frankfurt office stated, “Novosis has shown an outstanding performance over the past twelve months which was key to the success of the transaction and of course helped to achieve an attractive price for Novosis’ shareholders.”
Downer & Company’s Frankfurt office, which will celebrate its third anniversary in April, continues to exhibit strong growth and increasing revenues. Over the past two years, the Frankfurt office has completed approximately one third of Downer & Company’s total deals. Additional pharma-related transactions executed primarily by the Frankfurt team include acquisitions by Celesio, STADA Arzneimittel AG, and PlasmaSelect AG.
About Downer & Company
For thirty years, Downer & Company, LLC, has gained distinction as a leading middle-market M&A firm focused on the execution of acquisition and divestiture mandates for international and domestic corporations and private equity firms. Downer & Company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and has offices in Paris, Dublin, Frankfurt and Sydney. Downer & Company received an award for transacting the "International Cross-Border Deal of 2004" and was recognized as the top Investment Banking Firm of 2003 by The Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor. Downer & Company's corporate headquarters are located at 60 State Street, Boston, MA 02109. For further information, visit www.downer.com.
Contact:
Frank Merkel, Director, Frankfurt
fmerkel@downer.com
+49 69 297282-0