Blue Wolf Capital to Create New CDMO Platform

New platform would combine seven European sites acquired from Recipharm with additional facilities in agreed transaction for Synerlab

Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC (“Blue Wolf”), a middle market private equity firm specializing in the industrial and healthcare sectors, announced that it has finalized the acquisition of seven European pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities from Recipharm, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (“CDMO”).

The seven facilities acquired from Recipharm are Solna, Stängnäs, Höganäs, Karlskoga and Uppsala OTC Development in Sweden, Pessac in France, and Parets in Spain. With a focus on the production of oral solid, semi-solid, and liquid dosage form pharmaceutical products, these sites serve over 120 customers worldwide and have a strong track record of quality and regulatory compliance.

In addition, Blue Wolf has also agreed, subject to regulatory clearances, to acquire Synerlab, a CDMO headquartered in Strasbourg, France, with six operating facilities in France and Spain. Synerlab has expertise in manufacturing and development across multiple dosage forms, in addition to niche technical processes such as freeze drying and liquid sterile finished dosage forms.

The two transactions mark a significant step forward in helping advance Blue Wolf’s goal of building an industry-leading CDMO.

Blue Wolf also plans to name a new team of experienced pharmaceutical executives who will lead the proposed combined organization and serve on its board of directors. Bruce Vielle, Chief Executive Officer of Synerlab, is expected to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the future platform. He would be joined by:

• Chief Commercial Officer Peter Kruger, previously Chief Business Officer of the facilities Blue Wolf acquired from Recipharm;
• Chief Financial Officer Rich Fenton, previously CFO for the TFL Group and Norgren Europe;
• Chief Operating Officer Steve Leonard, previously Corporate Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain at Integra Life Sciences;
• Chief Strategy Officer Saurabh Singh, previously Vice President of Strategy & Business Development for Avet Pharmaceuticals and Director of M&A for AMRI; and
• Group Head of HR, Amy Mort, who previously served in a similar role for the facilities Blue Wolf acquired from Recipharm.

Two long-time CDMO industry executives with deep operational and commercial experience, William Marth and George Svokos, are expected to join the board of directors.

Mr. Marth is President and Chief Operating Officer of Resilience, a technology-focused biomanufacturing company. He was previously the CEO of AMRI (now known as Curia) and spent 14 years at Teva Pharmaceuticals, where he served as President and CEO of Teva Americas.

Mr. Svokos is President and CEO of Avet Pharmaceuticals. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer at AMRI and spent more than 30 years in leadership roles at Teva across manufacturing, operations, sales and marketing, and business development.

“I am delighted and enthusiastic to bring the team from the seven Recipharm sites together with Synerlab to build a new CDMO platform,” said Bruce Vielle, Chief Executive Officer of Synerlab. “By honoring both cultures, we will create an even stronger and more exciting one to serve our customers and patients.”

The proposed combined platform, to be headquartered in the UK, would have a manufacturing and employee footprint diversified across major Western European geographies and would serve as the cornerstone of a new best-in-class CDMO. Blue Wolf will support further growth with the goal of expanding the proposed platform’s commercial reach to span across the entire European continent and beyond.

“The opportunity to acquire multi-site, full-service CDMO assets with a track record of delivering high-quality pharmaceutical manufacturing solutions is exciting, and we see significant growth potential in these facilities,” said Shashank Patel, Principal at Blue Wolf. “We look forward to working together with our new partners in Europe to build a best-in-class CDMO focused on delivering outstanding service and exceptional high quality pharmaceutical products to customers and patients worldwide.”

Blue Wolf expects to announce the new corporate name of this platform by the end of the year. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The Synerlab transaction is expected to close in Q4 2024, following regulatory approvals.

About Blue Wolf Capital Partners

Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC is a private equity firm that focuses on value investments in middle market companies in the healthcare and industrial sectors. The firm’s integrated team of investment professionals and veteran operating executives work collaboratively to generate returns by driving transformational change using operational and strategic experience. Blue Wolf seeks to invest in businesses that have catalysts for value creation that involve organizational transformation, union or human capital issues, government presence, or the opportunity to use ESG-informed strategies. For additional information, please visit www.bluewolfcapital.com.

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