Carlyle, PAI Nearing $1.4 Billion Deal for CVC’s Theramex

(Bloomberg) -- Carlyle Group Inc. and PAI Partners are nearing an agreement to buy women’s health business Theramex from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, according to people familiar with the matter.

The consortium of Carlyle and PAI could announce the acquisition of London-based Theramex for about $1.4 billion as early as Monday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The duo outbid other suitors for the specialty pharmaceutical company, the people said.

Representatives for Carlyle, PAI and CVC declined to comment.

CVC has been exploring a sale of Theramex in a deal that could value the business at more than $1 billion and drew interest from other buyout groups seeking to bolster their health-care portfolios, Bloomberg News reported in January.

The private equity firm agreed to buy Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s women’s health assets in 2017, completing the deal the following year and launching the new company under the name Theramex. The pharmaceutical firm, which traces its roots to 1954, provides therapies for fertility, contraception, menopause and osteoporosis, according to its website. It employs more than 500 people in over 80 countries.

PAI, based in Paris, has about 22.4 billion euros ($24.6 billion) of assets under management, its website shows. The firm originated in 1872 as the investment arm of then merchant bank Paribas, now part of France’s biggest lender BNP Paribas SA.

Carlyle, based in Washington, manages about $301 billion of assets spanning private equity, credit and other investment solutions, according to its website. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.5 billion.

Bidders were preparing debt financings totaling as much as 800 million euros to back the Theramex acquisition, Bloomberg News reported on March 25.

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