N.I. Partners and iXEN Partners, longstanding shareholders of Ceva Santé Animale, support the company’s expansion by contributing to its fundraising

With 2009 sales of €395 M, Ceva Santé Animale is the world’s eighth largest veterinary health company specialising in pharmaceuticals and biology. It has just completed a €175 M fundraising round in which N.I. Partners and iXEN Partners contributed €30 M alongside the management team, Euromezzanine (another longstanding shareholder) and Sagard (a new financial shareholder).

The aim of this fundraising round is to enable the management, led by Philippe du Mesnil and Marc Prikazsky, to press ahead with its expansion strategy, which relies on a combination of organic growth (R&D programmes, increased production capacity and development of new technologies) and acquisitions.

Many acquisition opportunities are likely to arise in this market over the coming months, as the veterinary healthcare industry has entered a consolidation phase. In fact, various businesses are likely to be sold off for competition reasons, following the major wave of merger activity currently underway in the sector, such as the announced tie-up between Merial and Intervet. Furthermore, Ceva will continue to make targeted acquisitions (aimed at new products, new technologies and penetrating local markets or strengthening existing positions), as it has in the past, having purchased some twenty companies since its spin-off from Sanofi-Synthelabo in 1999.