The life science company Sartorius AG (“Sartorius”) successfully closed the acquisition of the Slovenian purification specialist BIA Separations d.o.o. (“BIA Separations” or “BIA”). The transaction was completed on November 2, 2020, after receiving the required approvals.
“BIA´s portfolio is highly complementary to Sartorius. We are thus creating an excellent offering for the manufacturing of gene therapies and other advanced therapies, and are pleased to welcome 120 new employees,” said Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO of Sartorius.
The total purchase price of the transaction is €360M of which €240M were paid in cash and €120M in Sartorius Stedim Biotech shares. Both parties have further agreed on three tranches of earn-out payments based on performance over the next five financial years. Sartorius has been preparing to integrate BIA Separations into the Sartorius Stedim Biotech subgroup so this can now be initiated despite the special conditions prevailing during the pandemic.
BIA Separations develops and manufactures market-leading products for purification and analysis of large biomolecules, such as viruses, plasmids and mRNA, which are used in cell and gene therapies and other advanced therapies. BIA’s technology for manufacturing-scale purification is already used in production of the first commercialized advanced therapeutics, and the company also has a strong presence with such novel drug candidates in the clinical pipeline. Expecting continued very strong double-digit sales growth over the next few years, BIA is forecasted to earn sales revenue of approx. €25M in 2020 at profit margins that will be accretive to both the underlying EBITDA margins of Sartorius’ Bioprocess Solutions segment and of the overall Sartorius Group. The transaction is not expected to have any material impact on Sartorius’ 2020 results.
The Sartorius Group is a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry. With innovative laboratory instruments and consumables, the Group’s Lab Products & Services Division concentrates on serving the needs of laboratories performing research and quality control at pharma and biopharma companies and those of academic research institutes. The Bioprocess Solutions Division with its broad product portfolio focusing on single-use solutions helps customers to manufacture biotech medications and vaccines safely and efficiently. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions complementary technologies. In fiscal 2019, the company earned sales revenue of some €1.83B. At the end of 2019, more than 9,000 people were employed at the Group’s approximately 60 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the globe.
EC M&A acted as the exclusive financial advisor to BIA on this transaction.
