Chanelle Pharma has been sold by its founder Michael H Burke to Exponent, a leading private equity firm, for an undisclosed sum.
Headquartered in Loughrea, Co. Galway, Chanelle Pharma is Ireland’s largest indigenous manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals for animal and human health. The terms of the sale have not been disclosed.
Founded in 1985 by Mr Burke, today Chanelle Pharma employs more than 730 people in Ireland, the UK, Europe and Jordan, and is internationally recognised as a leader in the global generics pharma industry.
Chanelle Pharma provides a spectrum of services to its customers including research and product development, registration and production of generic pharmaceuticals for both Human and Veterinary Pharmaceuticals.
As a leading European private equity firm, Exponent has a strong track record of successfully transforming and growing the companies they invest in. The firm recently opened an office in Dublin and has made investments totalling over €1 billion in Irish-owned or Irish-based businesses to date. Chanelle Pharma is the firm’s sixth platform investment in Ireland.
Mr Burke said: “Having dedicated my life to building Chanelle Pharma into a global company, I have decided the time is right to allow new owners to lead the company into its next phase of growth.
“I am very pleased that Exponent is acquiring Chanelle Pharma. They value the heritage of our company and share our ethos and vision. They have the expertise and resources to grow Chanelle Pharma with new investment across all our operations.”
David McGovern, partner at Exponent, said: “We are delighted to invest in Chanelle, a company we have admired for a long time.
“Our investment in Chanelle demonstrates our commitment to partner with market leading Irish businesses seeking to grow internationally and accelerate their growth. We look forward to working closely with Chanelle’s management team to strengthen its global presence and invest in its capabilities. We applaud Michael’s leadership of the business and thank him for trusting us to take Chanelle forward.”
James Gunton, partner at Exponent, added: “We are thoroughly impressed with the business Michael has built over the last 40 years and Exponent is proud to be the next owner of Chanelle.
“The business has established itself as a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer of both veterinary and medical products with an extensive portfolio of licenses. We see tremendous opportunity in the development pipeline and look forward to bringing new products to market, as well as continuing to invest in research and development in the years to come.”
The sale of Chanelle Pharma marks the end of an era as Mr Burke will retire from the business.
Mr Burke said: “I want to thank my management team, all our employees and our customers and suppliers who have supported me personally, and Chanelle Pharma over the past 40 years and I wish David, James and all in Chanelle Pharma continued success in the future.”
Chanelle Pharma will remain an Irish-managed company with the current management team remaining in place.
