City firms advise as PE giant Advent offloads €4.1bn drugmaker

Kirkland and Freshfields have taken lead roles on the €4.1 billion sale of Zentiva, as the European generic drugmaker changes hands between private equity owners.

Chicago-based buyout house GTCR is acquiring Zentiva from Advent, which first bought the business from Sanofi in 2018 for €1.9 billion. Based in Prague, Zentiva manufactures a wide range of generic and over-the-counter medicines and operates in more than 30 countries.

Advising

Kirkland & Ellis led for GTCR. The cross-practice group spans teams across M&A, debt finance, tax, capital markets and IP and includes London-based private equity partners Jacob Traff, David Higgins and Jiri Peterka.

Freshfields led for Advent, fielding a team led by London private capital partner James Scott and Berlin-based partner Stephanie Hundertmark, with support across tax, competition and IP. The firm also advised Advent on its original acquisition of Zentiva in 2018.

CMS acted alongside Freshfields for Advent - the firm also advised on the Sanofi deal. Prague-based M&A partner Helen Rodwell led a multi-jurisdictional team with lawyers in Bulgaria, Germany and France.

White & Case acted for Zentiva. The team was led by private equity partner Helen Croke - recently recruited from Ropes & Gray as part of a high-profile move earlier in the summer - and included lawyers across Brussels, Frankfurt and Prague.