IK Partners, GIC, Parquest and Keensight to buy Unither Pharmaceuticals from Ardian

The consortium will aim to support Unither's growth by further penetrating the US market.

  • Unither is a European pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation 
  • GIC and IK Partners enter the equity and Keensight and Parquest reinforce their existing positions
  • Ardian, Keensight Capital and Parquest Capital acquired Unither from Equistone Partners Europe in 2017

A consortium, led by Eric Goupil, executive chairman at Unither Pharmaceuticals, and comprising IK Partners, GIC, Keensight Capital and Parquest Capital, announced the acquisition of Unither from Ardian.

Amiens, France-based Unither is a European pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation that produces complex sterile liquid formulations for medical use. The company employs over 1,600 people across seven manufacturing facilities in France, the US, Brazil, and China, as well as an additional R&D centre in Bordeaux, France.

The consortium will support Unither’s growth by further penetrating the US market and expanding into BFS adjacencies such as vaccines and multi-dose preservative free dosage forms.

Ardian, Keensight Capital and Parquest Capital acquired Unither from London-headquartered Equistone Partners Europe in 2017.

GIC and IK Partners are entering the equity while Keensight and Parquest are reinforcing their existing positions.

“We look forward to actively contributing to the strengthening of Unither’s global industrial footprint and operations, with the support of our in-house platform teams,” said Magdalena Svensson, partner at IK. “Together with management, GIC, Keensight and Parquest, we plan to pursue existing growth strategies and explore new avenues in the BFS field as well as in adjacent technologies.”

IK Partners, GIC are headquartered in London and Singapore respectively, and Keensight Capital, Parquest Capital and Ardian are all based in Paris.