MILAN (Reuters) – Shares in Italian drugmaker Recordati rose nearly 3% on Tuesday, boosted by reports that investment funds KKR and TPG had expressed preliminary interest in buying a stake in the company.
Rumors about Recordati’s future intensified after majority shareholder CVC Capital Partners hired investment banks JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs to explore options for the pharmaceutical group’s development.
The private equity firm, which owns 51.8% of Recordati, is considering all options, including a sale and merger with another healthcare company, sources told Reuters last month.
Recordati, listed in Milan, has a market capitalization of about 10 billion euros ($10.7 billion).
KKR and TPG are among those who have expressed initial interest in Recordati, Bloomberg reported late Monday.
Buyout firms have made preliminary offers to acquire part or all of CVC’s stake in Recordati, the report said.
According to the report, CVC has also received separate interest from Italian company Angelini Pharma.
All parties involved declined to comment or were not immediately available for comment.
“We believe these press rumors… may revive the speculative appeal of the stock,” said one Milan broker.
CVC paid around €3 billion when it bought a stake in the company from the founding family in 2018.
A source familiar with the situation said CVC is working to refinance debt issued by the company through which the fund controls Recordati.
“We cannot rule out that options could also include simply refinancing the debt of parent company Rossini, whose €1.3 billion of bonds mature in October 2025,” broker Equita wrote in its daily report.
Recordati, which treats cardiovascular, urological, gastrointestinal and rare diseases, reported revenues of €2.08 billion in 2023, with underlying profits of approximately €770 million.
Its roots go back to a family pharmacy founded in northern Italy in the 1920s.
($1 = 0.9331 euros)