Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised private equity investor Ergon Capital Partners on the sale of the majority of pharmaceutical supplier Zellbios to DPE Deutsche Private Equity.

Since its formation in 2005, Ergon has been investing in European mid-market companies with a sustainable competitive position in attractive niche markets. In 2007, Ergon started its investment in Farmabios which was combined with Germany-based Pharmazell in 2011 to become Zellbios. Today, Zellbios group is a leading global manufacturer of niche, off-patent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). With app. 700 employees and 130 million Euro in annual revenues, Luxemburg-headquartered Zellbios has production sites in Germany, Italy, India and Switzerland. The acquiror DPE is an independent German private equity firm investing since 2007 in mid-market enterprises in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has been legal advisor to Ergon regarding the long-term, sustainable and successful investment in Zellbios. The team advising on the majority sale to DPE comprised corporate specialists Ralph Kogge, Wessel Heukamp, Judit Gajdics, Michael Schweppe and Elizabeth Oberholzer as well as Jacques Großkreuz (tax), Jacqueline Stein-Kaempfe (finance), Alexander Pospisil (finance) and Georg Schmittmann (competition).