Ceva, a global veterinary pharmaceutical company headquartered in Aquitaine, France, is welcoming a new minority shareholder, Mérieux Développement, the investment company of Institut Mérieux.
In addition to the funds that the company is bringing, this support from Mérieux Développement is particularly important for Ceva for several reasons. The Institut Mérieux has a long history of working with China, a key country for Ceva’s future development, and has developed partnerships with the scientific and medical community to cope with public health priorities like tuberculosis, personalized cancer care, food safety, emerging diseases and preventing antibiotic resistance. Ceva also recognizes potential synergies that could be beneficial to Ceva through Mérieux Développement’s investments in innovative and/or high-growth enterprises in Europe and internationally.
Thierry Chignon, senior partner at Mérieux Développement, said: “The high quality of the management and their teams, their marketing position in avian and swine biology and the large resources allocated to R&D gave us every confidence in Ceva’s ability to pursue its ambitious growth. We will be pleased to bring our experience, our network and our support over the long term.”
The addition of Mérieux Développement follows action in June when Ceva finalized the group’s fourth leveraged management buyout, enabling it to pursue its development program to become one of the top 5 global animal health companies by 2020. Temasek in June joined CDH Investments, Euromezzanine and Sagard as investors in Ceva.
