Norton Rose Fulbright advises ATHOS on the merger of biosimilars business with Formycon

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised ATHOS KG, the family office of the Strüngmann family, on all capital markets matters in connection with the combination of its biosimilars development activities with Formycon AG. 

Formycon AG is a leading independent developer of high-quality biopharmaceutical drugs, in particular biosimilars, and has been listed in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2010. Under the terms of the transaction, Formycon will acquire all rights to FYB202, a biosimilar candidate for Stelara, ATHOS' 50% stake in FYB201, a biosimilar candidate for Lucentis, and the operational development unit Bioeq GmbH. 

The investment company ATHOS KG is the family office of the Strüngmann family, the founders of the pharmaceutical company Hexal.

Formycon's consideration in the transaction amounts to a cumulative volume of approximately €650 million. The payment of the purchase price to ATHOS for the assets to be acquired is to be partly financed by the issuance of new shares from a capital increase against contribution in kind from authorized capital. 

In addition, ATHOS will receive an earn-out component from future cash flows from Formycon from the biosimilar candidates FYB201 and FYB202, which are expected to amount to a mid-triple-digit million amount for ATHOS. Upon completion of the transaction, ATHOS will be Formycon's largest shareholder. 

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Frankfurt partner Dr. Frank Peter Regelin (stock corporation and capital markets law), supported by Frankfurt counsel Oliver Polster (stock corporation and capital markets law). ATHOS was also assisted by the law firm Honert, led by partner Sven Fritsche, the Munich office of Ashurst and the law firm Baumann Inderkum & Muheim in Zug, Switzerland.