(Bloomberg) -- PAI Partners has submitted an improved offer for Sanofi’s consumer health business, according to people familiar with the matter, an unexpected twist in one of the biggest deals in Europe this year.
The private equity firm has raised its bid by about €200 million ($217 million) for the Opella unit and pledged to keep the operation’s headquarters and other key sites in France, the people said. PAI Partners also said in the revised proposal that it will keep jobs through an investment of at least €60 million over five years, the people said.
PAI Partners has been working with sovereign wealth funds Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Singapore’s GIC Pte on the bid for Opella, the people said. The improved offer is valid until 6 p.m. Sunday in Paris. Le Figaro reported PAI Partners’s revised bid earlier on Thursday. Representatives for Sanofi and PAI Partners declined to comment.
Sanofi last week confirmed it’s in talks to sell a 50% controlling stake in Opella to Clayton Dubilier & Rice, which beat out PAI Partners in the yearlong process. The Sanofi business could be valued at about €15 billion in a deal.
It’s rare to see a losing bidder to return with a revised offer after a preferred suitor has been chosen. The sweetened offer by PAI marks a last-ditch attempt to pry the deal away from CD&R or, at a minimum, get a role alongside CD&R in the purchase of the OTC unit, according to some of the people.
CD&R is still holding talks with Sanofi and aims to sign the deal as early as the coming days, they said. A representative for CD&R declined to comment.
CD&R has been working on a package of commitments amid political concerns, Bloomberg News reported earlier this week. The French government is stepping up its scrutiny on the potential transaction as the Sanofi unit sells over-the-counter medications, including pain reliever Doliprane, which is the most-used drug in the country.
Finance Minister Antoine Armand said on Monday the commitments the government demands will be “very precise” and “include guarantees, sanctions, and the means to take stakes.” The ministry will launch an investment screening procedure and may ask state-owned investment firm Bpifrance SACA to take a stake, or consider a so-called golden share.
--With assistance from Ania Nussbaum and Jenny Che.
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