Sartorius Stedim Biotech, a leading partner of the biopharma industry, announced that it closed the acquisition of the Novasep chromatography division as of February 7, 2022, following approval by the US Federal Trade Commission.

The transaction had already been agreed upon at the beginning of 2021. The business acquired generated sales of around 40 million euros in 2020 at a double-digit profit margin; final figures for 2021 are not yet available. The majority of the approximately 100 employees work at the Pompey site in eastern France and some in the USA, China, and India.

The portfolio acquired comprises chromatography systems primarily suited for smaller biomolecules, such as oligonucleotides, peptides, and insulin, as well as innovative systems for continuous manufacturing of biologics. Since 2018, Novasep and Sartorius Stedim Biotech have also been jointly developing optimized systems for a membrane-based chromatography technology.

As the acquisition is expected to generate additional non-organic sales revenue growth of around 1 percentage point in 2022, Sartorius Stedim Biotech has updated its sales revenue forecast for the current year as follows: Consolidated sales revenue is now expected to increase by about 15 per cent to 19 per cent (previously about 14 per cent to 18 per cent), with non-organic growth from acquisitions projected to contribute about 2 percentage points (previously about 1 percentage point). The company’s underlying EBITDA margin remains forecasted at more than 35 per cent this year.