Siegfried Group has sold a production building at its facility in Zofingen, Switzerland to Celgene as part of an agreement signed by the companies in 2006. Siegfried will continue to support Celgene in manufacturing pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediate products as well as in related analytics and other technical services.

In other news, German antitrust authorities (Bundeskartellam) have approved Sigfried’s acquisition of certain segments of BASF's pharmaceutical supply business and connected chemical-pharmaceutical production units in Minden, Germany, Saint-Vulbas, France, and Evionnaz, Switzerland. The BASF business unit concerned produces APIs and intermediates. Siegfried expects the agreement to be finalized at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2015.

Siegrfried had announced the acquisition earlier this year in May 2015 for approximately EUR 270 million ($301 million). The three sites, with over 800 employees, reported total sales for 2014 of some CHF 280 million ($300 million).

Once completed, Siegfried said it expects the transaction to achieve synergies in the areas of overheads, information technology, and procurement as well as through coordination of the global production network with Siegfried’s new site in Nantong, China. BASF's pharmaceutical supply business contributes complementary technological platforms, such as azide chemistry, phosgenation, and low-temperature chemistry. Siegfried will review all of its existing and new production sites with regard to resource efficiency and synergy potential in order to raise competitiveness in the medium to long range. In the new constellation, Siegfried’s site in Zofingen, Switzerland will remain the group's headquarters.

Siegfried expects integration to be completed by the end of 2016 This acquisition represents the final step in Siegfried's targeted acquisition policy implemented in the last five years. Siegfried previously acquired California-based AMP and the two German companies, Hameln Pharmaceuticals GmbH and Hameln RDS GmbH. Moreover, Siegfried secured land in Nantong, China, and operates a production plant there.

Siegfried has total sales of more than CHF 600 million ($643 million) based on 2014 results. Following the successful acquisition, the Siegfried Group will employ a workforce of about 2,200 employees at nine sites.

Source: Siegfried (Celgene) and Siegfried (BASF)