(Reuters) – Sanofi expects to list its drug ingredients business EUROAPI on May 6, having received approval from French stock market regulator, the pharmaceutical giant said on Friday.
The listing is set to take place shortly after a May 3 shareholder meeting, at which Sanofi’s stakeholders will vote on the listing.
Sanofi said the new shares will be distributed to its shareholders at one EUROAPI share per 23 Sanofi shares.
The company confirmed plans to conserve a 30% stake in the business after the listing while the French state will buy a 12% stake through EPIC Bpifrance for up to 150 million euros ($166 million).
L’Oreal, Sanofi’s largest shareholder with a more than 9% stake, and EUROAPI Chief Executive Karl Rotthier have both agreed to a one-year lock-up period after the listing, it added.
EUROAPI makes active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for medicines and will be based from six production sites in Italy, Germany, Britain, France and Hungary.
Sanofi, which last year accounted for half EUROAPI’s revenue, said in January that it expects the business to become the world’s second-biggest API player with about 1 billion euros in revenue forecast for this year.
The bulk of EUROAPI’s share capital, 58%, will be distributed to Sanofi shareholders through a dividend in kind, in addition to a previously proposed 3.33 euros per share cash payout.
($1 = 0.9035 euros)
(Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by David Goodman)