Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Lonza's $5.5B Capsugel bet integrated well early but was fully unwound nine years later — sold to Lone Star for $3B with a CHF 1.3B writedown as Lonza reversed course to become a "pure-play CDMO."
Full analysis, sources & comparables →BioPharma Dive characterized the $5.5B Capsugel buy as Lonza moving to build an integrated solutions provider spanning APIs through finished dosage forms,…
FiercePharma framed the Lonza-Capsugel and Thermo-Patheon deals together as $12.7B of M&A 'rapidly transforming' the CDMO industry into a smaller set of scaled…
Lonza divested the legacy Capsugel capsules and health ingredients business to Lone Star for ~$3B to become a pure-play biologics CDMO — a retrospective signal…
Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.
All 5 sources with sentiment breakdown →
Lonza Group agreed to acquire Capsugel from KKR for $5.5B in cash, including refinancing of ~$2B Capsugel debt. EV/EBITDA multiple ~15.1x. Strategic intent: create leading integrated solutions provider in pharma and consumer healthcare/nutrition. Expected ~CHF 30M operating synergies plus ~CHF 15M tax synergies. Completed July 6, 2017.
Lonza's $5.5B Capsugel bet integrated well early but was fully unwound nine years later — sold to Lone Star for $3B with a CHF 1.3B writedown as Lonza reversed course to become a "pure-play CDMO."
Assessment window: 5yr post-close.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lonza Group AG / Capsugel S.A. (KKR portfolio) (this deal) | 2016 | $5.5B | 39 |
| Lonza Group AG / Cambrex Bioproducts and Biopharma businesses | 2006 | $460M | 83 |
| Lonza Group AG / Capsugel S.A. | 2016 | $5.5B | 44 |
| Watson Pharmaceuticals (Actavis Inc.) / Actavis plc | 2012 | $5.9B | 97 |
| Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. / PRA International (Genstar Capital) | 2013 | $1.3B | 91 |
| Stryker Corporation / MAKO Surgical Corp. | 2013 | $1.6B | 91 |
| Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. / IMS Health Holdings, Inc. | 2016 | $17.6B | 91 |
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