According to information from Worldconfirming those published by The FigaroOn Thursday, October 17, the Parisian investment fund PAI Partners sent a new offer to Sanofi for the purchase of its subsidiary Opella, which manufactures Doliprane. PAI Partners, which had been excluded from the race, this time offers an amount 200 million euros higher than its previous attempt.
The offer remains valid until Sunday evening, while the negotiations initiated between Sanofi and the American investment fund CD&R continue with a view to the sale of the pharmaceutical group’s subsidiary dedicated to non-prescription drugs.
At the same time on Thursday, employees at several Doliprane production plants responded to the unions’ strike call, despite attempts by the government and the French pharmaceutical giant to reassure them about their future. Before the start of the social movement, the president of Sanofi France, Audrey Duval, guaranteed on RTL on Thursday the “sustainability” jobs, production centers and Doliprane, while the Opella subsidiary should be sold to an American investment fund.
At the Sanofi plant in Mourenx (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), which employs around sixty people and operates 24 hours a day, the strike call is manifested through successive strikes, during each work hour. The unions have also planned a demonstration at the site of the Compiègne (Oise) factory between 1 and 3 p.m., with the arrival of the New Popular Front deputy, François Ruffin.
Sanofi France “guarantees the sustainability” of jobs
Asked about the fears of the unions regarding the planned sale of this non-prescription consumer products entity, which markets a hundred brands, including Doliprane, Mme Duval said Thursday morning “to understand [leurs] concerns”. “We listen to them (…). It is normal that you have these questions since, in fact, we are in the middle of an operation that has not been completed. So the social dialogue and the negotiation process have not started”declared Audrey Duval.
“I guarantee Doliprane in pharmacies for the French”as well as the “sustainability of jobs and sites” of production in France “several years”he said, while the CFDT and CGT Sanofi unions called on Wednesday for a renewable strike starting Thursday. The unions fear a “social breakdown” among the 1,700 jobs that Opella has on French soil, of which 500 at its Compiègne (Oise) plant and 250 at its Lisieux (Calvados) factory, entirely dedicated to Doliprane. According to the unions, the strike will be especially followed in these two places.
In this possible transaction, the general outlines of which are currently being discussed, “Sanofi will remain a 50% shareholder”which gives you a “veto right over extremely strategic decisions of the group, such as Doliprane”underline Mme Duval. He insisted that Opella’s headquarters, management team and employees at its French plants ” stay[aient] In France”.
The entry of a public actor in the capital of Opella “on the table”
This week, the government asked stakeholders for guarantees in terms of maintaining employment, industrial footprint, location of headquarters and research and development. “Our goal is not to block the sale, it is to obtain written commitments through dialogue. And if we cannot obtain written commitments, we do not prohibit ourselves from using all the other levers.”Maud Bregeon, government spokesperson, repeated on Thursday on Sud Radio.
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In the opposition, calls to block the sale are becoming urgent. The Landes deputy, Boris Vallaud (Socialist Party), recalled in the public Senate that the State had the instruments to “enforce” : “You can use the Montebourg decree, you can go from establishing conditions to prohibiting the sale. » “If we want to guarantee our sovereignty, there is the possibility of using the Montebourg decree to block the sale”The coordinator of La Francia insumisa, Manuel Bompard, also estimated in Franceinfo.
Interviewed on Tuesday at The Echoes Regarding a possible entry into the capital of a public actor such as the public investment bank Bpifrance, the president of the board of directors of Sanofi, Frédéric Oudéa, assured that « all subjects [étaient] on the table ». bpifrance, “this is not our preference”Audrey Duval said Thursday.
Opella has produced up to 450 million cases of Doliprane in 2023 for the French market and €20 million has currently been invested in the Lisieux plant to increase production by 140 million cases per year from 2026. Doliprane is sold in 97% in France, a country that only represents about 10% of Opella sales and its second largest market behind the United States. In addition to Doliprane, Opella markets the brands Dulcolax, Lysopaïne, Maalox and Novanuit in France.
