Chanelle Pharma, Ireland’s largest indigenous manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals acquired by Exponent
One of Ireland’s most successful companies,
Chanelle Pharma has been sold by its founder Michael H Burke to Exponent, a
leading private equity firm. Headquartered in Loughrea, Co. Galway,
Chanelle Pharma is Ireland’s largest indigenous manufacturer of generic
pharmaceuticals for animal and human health. The terms of the sale have
not been disclosed.
Founded in 1985 by Michael H Burke, today
Chanelle Pharma employs over 730 people in Ireland, the UK, Europe and Jordan
and is internationally recognised as a leader in the global generics pharma
industry. Chanelle Pharma provides a spectrum of services to its customers
including research and product development, registration and production of
generic pharmaceuticals for both Human and Veterinary Pharmaceuticals.
As a leading European private equity firm,
Exponent has a strong track record of successfully transforming and growing the
companies they invest in. The firm recently opened an office in Dublin and has
made investments totalling over €1 billion in Irish-owned or Irish-based
businesses to date. Chanelle Pharma is the firm’s 6th platform investment
in Ireland.
Michael H Burke, Founder and Managing Director,
Chanelle Pharma said: “Having dedicated my life to building Chanelle Pharma into a
global company, I have decided the time is right to allow new owners to lead
the company into its next phase of growth. I am very pleased that
Exponent is acquiring Chanelle Pharma. They value the heritage of our
company and share our ethos and vision. They have the expertise and
resources to grow Chanelle Pharma with new investment across all our
operations”.
David McGovern, Partner at Exponent, said: “We are delighted
to invest in Chanelle, a company we have admired for a long time. Our
investment in Chanelle demonstrates our commitment to partner with market
leading Irish businesses seeking to grow internationally and accelerate
their growth. We look forward to working closely with Chanelle’s
management team to strengthen its global presence and invest in its
capabilities. We applaud Michael’s leadership of the business and thank him for
trusting us to take Chanelle forward.”
James Gunton, Partner at Exponent, said: “We are
thoroughly impressed with the business Michael has built over the last 40 years
and Exponent is proud to be the next owner of Chanelle. The business has
established itself as a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer of both veterinary
and medical products with an extensive portfolio of licenses. We see
tremendous opportunity in the development pipeline and look forward to bringing
new products to market, as well as continuing to invest in Research and
Development in the years to come.”
The sale of Chanelle Pharma marks the end of an
era as Michael H Burke will retire from the business. His legacy is a company
which put Ireland on the global map for generic pharmaceutical manufacturing
and provides valuable employment in his native Galway.
“I want to thank my management team, all our
employees and our customers and suppliers who have supported me personally, and
Chanelle Pharma over the past 40 years and I wish David, James and all in
Chanelle Pharma continued success in the future”, he said.
Chanelle Pharma’s Headquarters in Loughrea is
located on a 17-acre site and includes three manufacturing plants, four
research and development centres, warehousing and offices. Its
state-of-the-art Spot On manufacturing has FDA approval, allowing the company
to export to the United States. The Loughrea site manufactures generic
pharmaceuticals for export to over 90 countries and works with the biggest
generic companies across the world.
The company’s success has been built on a strong
product development pipeline. In the EU it holds the largest number of
veterinary licences of any animal health company. It undertakes annual
investment of some €8 million in Research and Development of both human and
veterinary animal health products. Under Michael Burke’s leadership
the company has continually grown its business each year since 1985.
Chanelle Pharma will remain an Irish managed
company with the current management team remaining in place.
The sale is subject to approval from the
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
Advisors to Chanelle Pharma were:
Rothschild & Co, Arthur Cox and PWC.
Advisors to Exponent were: Canson Capital
Partners, Allen & Overy, A&L Goodbody, KPMG.
