On a day when Bavarian Nordic reported strong first-half sales and adjusted its 2025 guidance positively, its CEO said that a private equity buyout of the Danish company would provide the funding it needs to realize its potential.
A month ago, Bavarian Nordic confirmed that it was in talks with venture capital firms Nordic Capital and Permira about a takeover bid. Four days later, BN reported that its board of directors was backing a sale of the company for DKK 233 ($36.50) per share, a 21% premium on the company’s share price the day before it confirmed the buyout rumor.
On Friday, CEO Paul Chaplin told Bloomberg that the private equity firms were prepared to dedicate the capital needed to turn BN’s “unloved” portfolio of assets into growth drivers for the vaccine-focused company.
“They know that significant additional investments are going to be required,” Chaplin told the news service. “And that’s the rationale that we’ve all bought into.”
The offer comes out to DKK 19 billion ($3 billion) and would take the Nasdaq Copenhagen-listed company private. Last month, BN’s largest shareholder, Denmark pension fund ATP, said it would not support the proposal.
In its latest financial report, BN said that second-quarter sales were up 16% and that first-half sales were 33% higher than a year ago. With the results, BN raised the lower end of its 2025 revenue guidance, rolling out a new window of DKK 6 billion ($941 million) to DKK 6.6 billion ($1.03 billion).
BN reported a 26% increase in sales of its rabies vaccine during the quarter and said that it sold a priority review voucher last month for $160 million.
The company also appears well positioned with its chikungunya vaccine, Vimkunya, which was approved in the U.S. in April. The vaccine's initial FDA-approved label covers those age 12 and older, and BN is testing the shot in children ages 2 to 11.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned last month that urgent actions are needed to prevent the escalation of a new wave of chikungunya outbreaks.