Direct Capital buys majority stake in NZP

Private equity firm Direct Capital has bought a 51 per cent stake in biochemical company New Zealand Pharmaceuticals (NZP) for an undisclosed sum.

The remaining 49 per cent of NZP will continue to be owned by its management and staff as well as Japanese specialty chemicals business Shin Nippon Yakugyo.

The Direct Capital investment in NZP is a pre-cursor to the public listing of NZP, which is planned within the next three years.

NZP manufactures specialty chemicals for some of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Its main product is cholic acid, which is made from bovine bile and is a chemical compound for a drug used to treat liver related diseases.

Other animal-based products include taurine, an amino acid used in infant formula; heparin, a blood anticoagulant; and ferritin, a natural iron supplement.

NZP is also working on synthetic compounds which are used to make carbohydrate-based glycotherapeutic drugs. NZP is collaborating with Industrial Research which is developing a range of these specialty carbohydrates.

NZP will build a new factory to manufacture these glycotherapeutic intermediates on the site of its existing head office and plant in Linton, near Palmerston North.

- NZPA