(Bloomberg) -- Novo Holdings, the shareholder that controls Novo Nordisk A/S, won European Union approval for its acquisition of Catalent Inc.
The EU unconditionally signed off on the deal after finding that the deal would not raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area, regulators said in a statement Friday. Novo’s biggest shareholder is buying Catalent, one of the world’s largest drug-manufacturing companies, for $16.5 billion, including debt.
Novo Holdings, which controls about 77% of the votes in what is now Europe’s most valuable company, has stepped up its deal-making amid surging demand for Novo’s weight-loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic. In a three-way arrangement, Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based Novo will pay $11 billion to get three of Catalent’s factories in the deal.
Novo is racing to build a more robust supply chain after facing shortages of both its Wegovy and Ozempic shots. Competition is heating up between Novo and Eli Lilly & Co., whose rival obesity shot Zepbound is predicted to become the best-selling drug in history.
Catalent, based in Somerset, New Jersey, gained prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic as a producer of vaccines. While the takeover has clinched EU approval, it could still face mounting scrutiny across the Atlantic. In early October, Senate Democrat Elizabeth Warren urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the deal, in a letter sent to FTC Chair Lina Khan.
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