Blackstone Exits Investment In Stiefel

Blackstone Group has exited its investment in Stiefel Laboratories after the dermatology company was bought by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKlein for $3.6 billion.The Blackstone Capital Partners V fund made an investment of $500m in 2007 for a substantial minority stake in

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Blackstone Group has exited its investment in Stiefel Laboratories after the dermatology company was bought by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKlein for $3.6 billion.The Blackstone Capital Partners V fund made an investment of $500m in 2007 for a substantial minority stake in Stiefel, the world’s largest independent manufacturer of dermatology products. No financial details relating to Blackstone’s return on its initial investment have been disclosed.

GSK, the world’s second-largest drug company, is paying $2.9 billion in cash and will take on around $400 million of Stiefel’s debt. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2009.

Florida-based Stiefel was put up for sale a month ago and reportedly attracted interest from a number of pharmaceutical companies including Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis and Johnson & Johnson.

“The combination of Stiefel and GSK will create a leading company in global dermatology with a strong presence in the prescription, consumer and aesthetic skin health markets,” says Stiefel’s chairman and CEO, Charles W Stiefel. “Along with adding hundreds of marketed dermatology products, this deal will increase the value of Stiefel’s unparalleled dermatology pipeline by expanding the customer base to which we will be able to offer these products.”

Blackstone is currently raising Blackstone Capital Partners VI, which has reportedly closed on $8 billion to date, and will begin investing in late 2009 or early 2010.

D.C.

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