Regulatory conditions on Novo Holdings' $16.5 bln Catalent deal fulfilled, companies say

Catalent

14/12/2024 16:27

Dec 14 (Reuters) - All regulatory closing conditions
related to Novo Holdings' $16.5 billion acquisition of
acquisition of U.S. contract drug maker Catalent  CTLT.N  had
been fulfilled, the companies said on Saturday, adding that the
transaction is expected to be completed in the coming days. 
    Novo Holdings in February agreed to buy Catalent to boost
output of the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy. According to the
terms of the deal, Novo Holdings would sell three of Catalent's
factories, where injection pens are filled in sterile
conditions, in Italy, Belgium and the United States, to Novo
Nordisk for $11 billion.
   Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Danish
drugmaker Novo Nordisk  NOVOb.CO , which makes the blockbuster
GLP-1 injectable weight-loss drug Wegovy.
    Novo Nordisk said that the acquisition is expected to have a
mid single-digit negative impact on the company's operating
profit growth for 2025, and that the company is not expecting to
initiate a share buyback programme in 2025. 
    The deal had received EU antitrust approval earlier in
December, and the European Commission said in a statement that
"The proposed merger would not raise competition concerns on any
of the markets examined in the EEA (European Economic Area) or
on any substantial part of it".
    Several U.S. consumer groups and two large labor unions had
urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in October to
block the deal. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren had also called on
the FTC to scrutinize the $16.5 billion deal. 
    The FTC in May had sought more information on Novo's
acquisition of Catalent. However, there had been no update from
the FTC since then. 
    

 (Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru, Editing by Franklin
Paul)
 ((Chandni.shah@thomsonreuters.com;))