‘Friendly Breakup’: Sanofi And Regeneron Agree Equity Revamp

In a mutually agreed set of stock transactions, Sanofi will offload most of its 20.6% stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. while the US pharma will buy much of it back as part of CEO Paul Hudson’s plan to generate cash and re-vamp the French drug maker. Both said the co-ordinated equity exercise would not hurt their successful and lucrative drug development partnership.

The two companies have had a research and marketing partnership since 2003, which led Sanofi to build up an equity stake currently worth around $12bn. But last December, newly installed CEO Hudson hinted during a presentation to investors that Sanofi would “monetize” its Regeneron stake as part of a necessary overhaul that included the Paris-based group exiting diabetes R&D and a re-ordering of therapeutic priorities, to spur growth