Benzinga | Jun 22, 2021 06:30AM EDT

Repligen Corporation Announces Agreement To Acquire Polymem S.A.; Size Of Deal Not Disclosed

Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN), a life sciences company focused on bioprocessing technology leadership, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Toulouse, France based Polymem S.A. ("Polymem"), a leading industrial expert in the development and manufacture of hollow fiber membranes and modules.

Tony J. Hunt, President and CEO of Repligen, said, "We are delighted to have Jean-Michel, Franc and the Polymem team join the Repligen family. The acquisition significantly expands our hollow fiber membrane and module production capabilities and adds core R&D, engineering and production expertise in hollow fiber technology for both industrial and bioprocessing markets. The business complements what we have already in place at our Rancho Dominguez site and establishes a world-class center of excellence in Europe to meet the accelerating demand for hollow fiber products and to serve our rapidly expanding global customer base."

Jean-Michel Espenan, President of Polymem, said, "Since co-founding the company in 1997, Polymem has remained true to our expertise in hollow fiber membrane development and manufacturing for industrial and life sciences applications. By joining forces with Repligen, we now have the opportunity to focus on two market segments, Municipal/Industrial and Bioprocessing, each with very similar needs and demands. This deal further extends our market reach, allowing us to boost our growth across both our historical Municipal/Industrial markets and the Bioprocessing market. We continue to increase capacity with the extension of our production site in Castanet-Tolosan, south of Toulouse, and we look forward to working together with Repligen to further penetrate our core markets."

Jean-Michel Espenan and Franc Saux will stay on with the company in their current respective roles of President and Technical Director. The proposed acquisition is expected to close during Repligen's third fiscal quarter of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. To fund the transaction, Repligen intends to use its cash on hand which totaled approximately $711 million at March 31, 2021. Additional financial details were not disclosed. Perella Weinberg Partners LP is acting as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP is serving as legal counsel to Repligen.