Catalent raises $650mm in preferred stock financing to fund Paragon acquisition

Concurrent with and conditional upon its $1.2bn acquisition of US biologics CDMO Paragon Bioservices, Catalent Inc. entered a definitive agreement to issue up to $1bn of a new series of convertible preferred stock to funds affiliated with PE firm Leonard Green & Partners (LGP). LGP will pay $1k apiece to purchase up to 1mm Series A preferred shares, of which Catalent will issue $650mm. Separately, the company also brought in some money through a term loan under its existing senior secured credit facilities with JPMorgan Chase. Besides funding the acquisition, Catalent will use any remaining proceeds from these transactions to pay a portion of capital expansion project costs at Paragon’s Baltimore, MD gene therapy headquarters. An LGP partner will join the Catalent board.