SHS Capital Acquires Majority Stake in OTC Specialist Basic Pharma

Tübingen/Geleen (NL) — SHS Capi­tal has signed a binding agree­ment to acquire a majo­rity stake in Basic Pharma Holding B.V., a Nether­­lands-based phar­maceu­ti­cal deve­lo­per and full-service CDMO (contract deve­lo­p­ment and manu­fac­tu­ring orga­niza­tion). The tran­sac­tion is expec­ted to close shortly. 

Basic Pharma is a specia­li­zed deve­lo­per and manu­fac­tu­rer of nasal sprays and semiso­lid phar­maceu­ti­cals. The inte­gra­ted “License & Supply” model—which combi­nes in-house product deve­lo­p­ment, proprie­tary dossiers, regu­la­tory affairs, phar­ma­co­vi­gi­lance, and GMP manufacturing—sets the company apart in the Euro­pean market; in terms of produc­tion capa­city, Basic Pharma ranks among the leading Euro­pean nasal spray CDMOs. 

The company has grown signi­fi­cantly in recent years, driven by strong demand for its nasal sprays, creams, and newly laun­ched prescrip­tion products, and bene­fits from a very loyal custo­mer base consis­ting of white-label and private-label distri­bu­tors as well as gene­ric drug companies.

Succes­sion Plan for the Founders

The invest­ment by SHS Capi­tal provi­des a struc­tu­red succes­sion plan for foun­der and CEO Bob Kool, who is reinves­t­ing along­side SHS Capi­tal, and aims to acce­le­rate Basic Pharma’s next phase of growth through inter­na­tio­nal expan­sion, conti­nuous product deve­lo­p­ment, and selec­tive buy-and-build transactions.

Foun­ded in 2003 by phar­macist Bob Kool, Basic Pharma has evol­ved from a local contract manu­fac­tu­rer into an inte­gra­ted phar­maceu­ti­cal plat­form that combi­nes in-house product deve­lo­p­ment, regu­la­tory affairs, phar­ma­co­vi­gi­lance, and GMP manu­fac­tu­ring at its site in Geleen, the Nether­lands, and serves an inter­na­tio­nal custo­mer base across prescrip­tion (Rx) and over-the-coun­­ter (OTC) drugs as well as inves­ti­ga­tio­nal products. A key diffe­ren­tia­tor is the company’s ability to deve­lop, regis­ter, and out-license product dossiers: Under the “License & Supply” model, intern­ally deve­lo­ped products are licen­sed to distri­bu­tors and phar­maceu­ti­cal part­ners, while Basic Pharma reta­ins exclu­sive manu­fac­tu­ring and dossier rights. This fosters long-term custo­mer rela­ti­onships and strong recur­ring reve­nue. Basic Pharma holds a leading posi­tion in the Dutch nasal spray market and, thanks to a lean and highly effi­ci­ent produc­tion struc­ture, offers its products at compe­ti­tive prices, inclu­ding internationally. 

SHS Capi­tal intends to support Basic Pharma as a growth part­ner in the coming years. The joint value-crea­­tion plan focu­ses on streng­thening the highly successful core busi­ness, enhan­cing opera­tio­nal excel­lence, profes­sio­na­li­zing the orga­niza­tion, and acce­le­ra­ting inter­na­tio­nal expan­sion, parti­cu­larly in Euro­pean markets with attrac­tive pricing dyna­mics. Further­more, Basic Pharma is well-posi­­tio­­ned as a plat­form for selec­tive buy-and-build tran­sac­tions in the frag­men­ted Euro­pean CDMO land­scape. Foun­der Bob Kool will conti­nue to support the company and remain asso­cia­ted with it as a share­hol­der and member of the advi­sory board. 

“Over more than two deca­des, we have built Basic Pharma into an inte­gra­ted phar­maceu­ti­cal plat­form with a strong team and loyal, long-stan­­ding custo­mers,” says Bob Kool, foun­der and CEO of Basic Pharma. “It was very important to me to place the future of my life’s work in the right hands. In SHS, we have found an extre­mely expe­ri­en­ced and specia­li­zed health­care private equity fund that truly under­stands our busi­ness, values our employees, and shares our ambi­ti­ons. I am very plea­sed that the next chap­ter of Basic Pharma will be writ­ten toge­ther with such a compe­tent part­ner, and I look forward to conti­nuing to support the company during this exci­ting phase.” 

“Basic Pharma is exactly the kind of company we’re looking for: a specia­li­zed Euro­pean health­care cham­pion with a diffe­ren­tia­ted busi­ness model, its own drug candi­da­tes, and signi­fi­cant, untap­ped inter­na­tio­nal poten­tial,” says Dr. Corne­lius Maas, a part­ner at SHS Capi­tal. “We look forward to support­ing the team in the next phase of growth—both orga­ni­cally and through selec­tive acquisitions.” 

About Basic Pharma

Basic Pharma Holding B.V. is a Nether­­lands-based phar­maceu­ti­cal deve­lo­per and full-service CDMO compri­sing Basic Pharma Manu­fac­tu­ring, Basic Pharma Tech­no­lo­gies, and Inter­dos Pharma. The company deve­lops, regis­ters, and manu­fac­tures prescrip­tion and over-the-coun­­ter (OTC) medications—including nasal sprays, creams, oint­ments, liquid dosage forms, and pre-filled syringes—as well as inves­ti­ga­tio­nal drugs for clini­cal trials. Through Inter­dos Pharma, the group also provi­des services in the areas of regu­la­tory affairs, phar­ma­co­vi­gi­lance, QA/QC, and Quali­fied Person for both inter­nal and exter­nal clients. All products are manu­fac­tu­red at the company’s GMP-certi­­fied faci­lity in Geleen (Nether­lands). Basic Pharma employs more than 250 people and serves an inter­na­tio­nal custo­mer base of distri­bu­tors and phar­maceu­ti­cal compa­nies throug­hout Europe. — https://basicpharma.nl/

About SHS Capital

SHS Capi­tal is a private equity firm foun­ded in 1993 that invests in health­care compa­nies in Europe. Its invest­ments focus on expan­sion finan­cing, chan­ges in owner­ship, and succes­sion plan­ning. “Buil­ding Euro­pean Health­care Cham­pi­ons” is the invest­ment philo­so­phy that guides SHS in finan­cing and deve­lo­ping its port­fo­lio compa­nies. The Tübin­­gen-based inves­tor takes both mino­rity and majo­rity stakes. The natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal inves­tors in the SHS funds include pension funds, fund-of-funds, foun­da­ti­ons, family offices, stra­te­gic inves­tors, entre­pre­neurs, and the SHS manage­ment team. The AIF’s equity or equity-like invest­ment amounts to up to €50 million. Volu­mes excee­ding this amount can be reali­zed through a network of co-inves­­tors. In its invest­ment decis­i­ons, SHS places great empha­sis on ESG conside­ra­ti­ons and is ther­e­fore commit­ted to the UN PRI guide­lines. — http://www.shs-capital.eu