Ritedose Owner Weighs $1.5 Billion Sale of Health Firm

(Bloomberg) -- AGIC Capital is considering a sale of its controlling stake in U.S. health-care services firm Ritedose Corp., people familiar with the matter said.

The private equity firm has held initial discussions with potential advisers about a sale of Ritedose, the people said. AGIC may seek a valuation of at least $1.5 billion for the business, according to the people, not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential.

A sale could attract interest from other buyout firms and companies in the pharmaceutical industry, the people said. Deliberations are at an early stage, and there’s no certainty AGIC will proceed with a transaction, the people said. A representative for AGIC declined to comment.

AGIC, a European-Asian buyout firm founded by former Deutsche Bank AG executive Henry Cai, and Chinese pharmaceutical company Humanwell Healthcare Group Co. acquired Ritedose from investment fund Olympus Partners in 2017 for $605 million.

The Columbia, South Carolina-based company is a contract development manufacturer for the pharmaceutical industry, with a focus on inhalation and ophthalmic products, according to its website. It specializes in blow-fill-seal manufacturing and has more than 360 employees.

Ritedose is forecast to generate around $75 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization this year, one of the people said.

A sale of Ritedose would add to the almost $190 billion in health care deals announced globally this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That represents a more than 300% increase from a year earlier, the data show.

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