Private equity company Permira is looking to offload its CDMO Cambrex in a sale that could value the latter company at up to $4 billion, according to a report over the weekend by the Financial Times.
The sale effort comes as contract drug manufacturers benefit from the Trump administration’s onshoring push, with the president and others in the government repeatedly threatening to impose steep drug import tariffs.
London-based private equity firm Permira is looking to get in on the rising investor interest in manufacturers such as Cambrex, the FT reported on Sept. 6.
Permira is focused on attracting private equity buyers for Cambrex and has approached about a dozen possible suitors, the publication reported, citing multiple people familiar with the matter. While a sale is not guaranteed, the firm has hired advisors to launch the sale in the hopes of attracting a valuation of $4 billion.
Permira did not immediately respond to Fierce Pharma’s request for comment.
The potential transaction suggests that private equity interest in CDMOs isn’t letting up anytime soon. This summer, Cambrex’s peer and competitor PCI Pharma Services picked up a strategic investment co-led by Bain Capital and Kohlberg & Partners in a deal that valued PCI at $10 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on July 14.
Before that, Ampersand Capital Partners and GHO Capital Partners took on CDMO Avid Bioservices late last year, shortly after Ampersand purchased a Nektar Therapeutics facility for $90 million.
And, in a headline M&A deal last year, CDMO giant Catalent sold itself to Novo Holdings for about $16.5 billion.
Permira, meanwhile, first picked up Cambrex in 2019 in a $2.4 billion deal. Under Permira’s ownership, the CDMO has made a number of moves to adjust its footprint and reach.
In 2023, Cambrex sold its drug product business unit to Delaware-based active pharmaceutical ingredient maker Noramco in a “strategic decision to focus on core areas of growth and investment,” CEO Thomas Loewald said at the time.
More recently, the company expanded its own Snapdragon Chemistry API facility in Massachusetts to boost its capabilities for peptide therapies. Cambrex purchased Snapdragon and two of its plants in 2023 to expand its API offerings.
Cambrex operates 14 sites across the globe, focusing on drug product and drug substance manufacturing as well as analytical services.