Novo Holdings Completes Acquisition of Catalent

(Reuters) – All regulatory closing conditions related to Novo Holdings' $16.5 billion acquisition of U.S. contract drug maker Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) have been fulfilled, the companies said on Saturday. They added that the transaction is expected to be completed in the coming days.

Novo Holdings agreed to buy Catalent in February to boost output of the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy. According to the deal's terms, Novo Holdings will sell three of Catalent's factories, where injection pens are filled in sterile conditions, located in Italy, Belgium, and the United States, to Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) for $11 billion.

Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which manufactures the blockbuster GLP-1 injectable weight-loss drug Wegovy.

Novo Nordisk stated that the acquisition is anticipated to have a mid single-digit negative impact on the company's operating profit growth for 2025, and it does not plan to initiate a share buyback program in 2025.

The deal received EU antitrust approval earlier in December. The European Commission noted that "The proposed merger would not raise competition concerns on any of the markets examined in the EEA (European Economic Area) or on any substantial part of it."

In October, several U.S. consumer groups and two large labor unions urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block the deal. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren also called for the FTC to scrutinize the $16.5 billion transaction.

The FTC sought more information regarding Novo's acquisition of Catalent in May; however, there has been no update from the FTC since then.