Orrick Advises on Joint Acquisition and Combination of Kedrion and BPL

Orrick advised Kedrion, a global supplier of plasma-derived pharmaceutical products, and its parent company Sestant Internazionale on the global merger control and foreign direct investment (FDI) aspects of a complex transaction whereby private equity firm Permira and Sestant acquired joint control over Kedrion and Bio Products Laboratory Limited (“BPL”), a competing supplier of plasma-derived pharmaceutical products. 

This involved filings before the European Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, as well as in Brazil, Colombia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, on the antitrust side, and in the US, Germany, Italy and the UK, on the FDI side.

After a long and complex prenotification phase before the European Commission, the Orrick team – together with Permira’s counsel – was able to obtain an early unconditional clearance of the transaction, before the end of the phase I review period.

By combining two major players of the global plasma protein industry and thereby creating a wide, high-growth portfolio of rare disease medicines to serve patients around the world, this transaction, which is valued at €2 billion, represents a major development for this key pharma sector.