Reuters: Private Equity: RLPC-Avista and Clessidra buy 50 pct Rottapharm stake

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RLPC-Avista and Clessidra buy 50 pct Rottapharm stake May 16th 2012, 15:31 By Massimo Gaia LONDON | Wed May 16, 2012 11:31am EDT LONDON May 16 (Reuters) - Private equity firms Clessidra Capital Partners and Avista Capital Partners are in exclusive talks to acquire a 50 percent stake in family-owned Italian pharmaceutical group Rottapharm-Madaus, banking sources said. Clessidra and Avista will take a 25 percent stake each in Rottapharm in a deal which values the company at 1.7 billion euros ($2.17 billion), the sources said. That price falls short of the 2 billion euro valuation Rottapharm founder Luigi Rovati had sought when he put a stake of his company up for sale last year, the banking sources added. Rottapharm, Avista and Clessidra declined to comment. The deal is conditional on financing being in place to back the buyout which will be provided by a number of banks including Unicredit, Natixis, Intesa and Credit Suisse, banking sources said. Credit Suisse is advising on the sale process, which has taken several months and until recent weeks was in stalemate. A number of private equity firms showed interest in buying the company but were reluctant to complete the sale because of its high price tag and difficulties obtaining debt due to tough conditions in Europe's leveraged finance market, the bankers said. Rottapharm opened the doors to other pharmaceutical companies, including generics drug maker Mylan, but failed to reach a deal as the Rovati family didn't want to sell more than a 50 percent stake. [ID: nL5E8EF7O2] Luca Rovati had intimated a preference to sell to one or more private equity players that supported growth in preparation for a possible future listing. Established in 1961, Rottapharm makes treatments for conditions including osteoarthritis as well as personal care products such as baby wipes. ($1 = 0.7828 euros) (Writing and additional reporting by Claire Ruckin; Additional reporting by Sophie Sassard and Simon Meads; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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