Contract manufacturer and drug delivery technology company Catalent Pharma Solutions filed a Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week signifying its intention to raise up to $100m (€73.5m) in its IPO. According to the company, the net proceeds from the offering would be used to repay debt, with any remaining balance to be used for general corporate purposes.
However, IPO investment firm Renaissance Capital has suggested this amount “is likely just a placeholder” and the firm’s intentions to go public could see upwards of $500m raised.
The deal is being brokered by Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan acting as joint book-running managers, and though an exchange has yet to be announced the company intends to list itself under the symbol CTLT.
According to the filing, Catalent’s sales for the year ending June 30 2013 stood at $1.8bn, with a breakdown showing 66% of the business came from its oral technologies, whilst development and clinical services represented 22% of revenue.
Blackstone – who owns 87% of the company – acquired the Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services (PTS) assets of Cardinal Health in 2007 and formed Catalent. Since then, the company has grown to become the largest CMO with a market share of 11%, according to a recent report by Canadian investment bank BMO Capital.
In the last year the firm has also increased its presence in its drug delivery business, forming the Advanced Delivery Technologies Unit last July and growing in the sector through a number of acquisitions – in China and Brazil last year – as well as investing in biologics with both technology and capacity.