Goldman Sachs set to pay €2 billion for Dutch pharma firm Synthon International

Goldman Sachs’ asset arm is in the process of acquiring the Dutch pharmaceutical company Synthon International for 2 billion euros. Goldman Sachs Asset Management and current Synthon-owner BC Partners are in the final stages of reaching a deal and an announcement is likely in the coming days, sources involved told Bloomberg.

Synthon is known for making complex generic medicines. The company’s head office is in Nijmegen. It also has locations in Argentina, Chile, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Mexico, and Spain. The company employs more than 1,500 people worldwide, including around 200 people in the Netherlands.

Some of its products include anastrozole, used as a hormone therapy to reduce the risk of certain cancers by lowering estrogen levels, leukemia drug imatinib, and high blood pressure treatments bisoprolol and doxazosin.

All four medications are on the current list of medicines shortages in the Netherlands. The company’s website states that it produces “affordable and accessible” medicines with a focus on about 50 different generic versions of brand-name drugs.

Synthon was founded as a two-person consultancy firm in Nijmegen in 1991. BC Partners acquired Synthon for 750 million euros from its founders in 2019. According to Bloomberg’s sources, BC Partners intends to maintain a minority share in the pharmaceutical after the sale.

Both BC Partners and Goldman Sachs declined to comment to Bloomberg.