(Bloomberg) -- Clayton Dubilier & Rice is working on a package of commitments amid political concerns that its purchase of a controlling stake in Sanofi’s consumer health business could damage French interests, people familiar with the matter said.
The US buyout firm is discussing a series of guarantees on safeguarding Opella’s operations in France, including protections on jobs and local manufacturing plants, the people said. CD&R is also considering the French government’s request to keep the consumer health unit’s headquarters in France, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.
CD&R is in talks with Sanofi on the potential package, which could be ready as soon as this week, according to the people. Deliberations are ongoing and no final decision has been made, they said. Representatives for CD&R and Sanofi declined to comment.
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.
Sanofi last week confirmed it’s in talks to sell a 50% controlling stake in Opella to CD&R, which beat out rival PAI Partners in the yearlong process. The Sanofi business could be valued at about €15 billion ($16.4 billion) in one of Europe’s biggest deals this year.
CD&R, which raised a record $26 billion buyout fund last year, has been an active investor in France in recent years, teaming with Permira in July in an offer to take cybersecurity company Exclusive Networks SA private. It’s also an investor in Mobilux, one of the largest home equipment retailers in France.
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