British private equity company Exponent is closing in on a deal to acquire Chanelle Pharma, one of Ireland’s biggest indigenous pharmaceutical companies.
Exponent is said to be the frontrunner to acquire the Galway business in a deal reckoned to be worth more than €300 million.
Sources say rival private equity firms HIG and Duke Street Capital were also in the frame for the business, which was founded by Michael Burke, a vet, in 1985.
Chanelle is the country’s largest maker of generic pharmaceuticals for humans and animals. Burke hired investment bank Rothschild to find a buyer last year, with initial indications suggesting that the group could sell for up to €400 million.
However observers say that the higher price was based on attracting a trade