DLA Piper, Altana and Bennani & Associés advise Sanofi and Eurapharma on the sale of a majority stake in Maphar

Paris, 8 June 2017 - DLA Piper, Altana and Bennani & Associés advised Sanofi and Eurapharma on the sale of a majority stake in Maphar.

DLA Piper advised Sanofi on the sale of 51% of the shares in its Moroccan subsidiary, Maphar, to Eurapharma, advised by Altana and Bennani & Associés, and the establishment of a strategic partnership between Eurapharma and the Sanofi group that aims to accelerate the development of Maphar’s business in the Moroccan and African markets.

Eurapharma, subsidiary of the CFAO group, is the leader in pharmaceutical distribution in Africa and the French Overseas Territories.

Maphar, a full service provider (from registration to the manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceutical products) for almost 65 years, has the confidence of more than 25 international laboratories whose products are available on the Moroccan market.

Sanofi will remain a reference shareholder of Maphar at 49% and will strengthen its position as leader of the Moroccan pharmaceutical market through its subsidiary Sanofi Aventis Maroc, which has made significant industrial, logistical and scientific investments over the past years.

ADVISERS

Seller:

Legal counsel: DLA Piper with Michel Frieh, partner, and Cyrine Abdelmoula, counsel, Edouard Sarrazin, partner, and Fayrouze Masmi-Dazi, senior associate, on competition law aspects and Myriam Mejdoubi, counsel, on real estate law aspects.

DLA Piper in Casablanca with Christophe Bachelet, partner, and Camilia Benani, associate, on Moroccan law aspects.

Financial due diligence: Mazars with Pierre Tchertoff, Reza Joomun, partners, and Théophile Redaud, senior manager.

Purchaser:

Legal counsel: Altana with Gilles Gaillard, partner, and Julie Rolet, counsel and Frédéric Manin, partner, on competition law aspects.

Legal counsel: Bennani & Associés in Casablanca on Moroccan law aspects with Mehdi Bennani and Abdellah Moustaid, partners, Widad Boukouraych and Inaya Abdellatif, associates.

Legal counsel: De Gaulle Fleurance and Associés with Jean Marie Job, partner, for industrial contracts and Catherine Castro, partner, for real estate law aspects.

Financial due diligence: Deloitte with Frédérique Chenevoy, partner and Jawad Bencheqroun, director.

Fiscal due diligence: Taj with Arnaud Mourier, partner and  Damien Foisy d’Angicourt, senior manager.