Lonza buying capsule maker for US$5.5b

Zurich

LONZA Group AG, which has a secondary listing in Singapore, has agreed to buy US capsule maker Capsugel SA from KKR & Co for US$5.5 billion, as the Swiss biotech and specialty chemicals company seeks to focus more on health care.

The price includes refinancing of existing Capsugel debt of about US$2 billion, Basel-based Lonza and Capsugel, which has headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey, said in a statement on Thursday.