Rovi has attracted multiple buyout bids for its contract manufacturing business after the company said it was weighing its options for the division several months ago.
The Spanish drugmaker said Wednesday it had received “non-binding offers” from “various entities.”
In March, Rovi said it was evaluating “strategic alternatives” for its third-party CDMO business following “recent press speculation” on the topic. Spanish news outlets Bolsamanía, Consenso del Mercado and Expansión have since speculated a potential deal value of €2 billion to €3 billion ($2.1 billion to $3.2 billion), while Jefferies analysts projected €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) in an investor note last month.
Rovi’s plan to “unlock value” through its contract manufacturing business is understandable in the wake of Novo Nordisk’s $16.5 billion buyout of Catalent, Jefferies said. Catalent was responsible for producing the Danish pharma’s blockbuster obesity drugs. Rovi, meanwhile, is perhaps best known for making Moderna’s Covid vaccine Spikevax during the pandemic.
While Rovi is still producing the Covid injections under the terms of a 2022 partnership deal, demand for mRNA vaccines has dropped significantly in recent years.
Last month, the Jefferies analysts said that any deal for Rovi’s CDMO unit would probably “involve a partner injecting capital to the business to accelerate growth, not selling a stake.” But in its most recent announcement, the company described offers for an acquisition.
In April, Rovi secured an agreement to make prefilled syringes for an unnamed global pharma company for five years, with production set to start in 2026.
Rovi has three production facilities according to its website, including two injectable plants which together have an annual production capacity of 450 million syringes.
The company’s third plant has an annual production capacity of three billion tablets and 30 million sachets.