Gerresheimer has entered into definitive agreements to sell Centor and its global Primary Packaging Plastics business to an affiliate of funds advised by Apax Partners. The two businesses have a combined enterprise value of approximately €1.5 billion, although the parties did not disclose the remaining financial terms.
The transactions cover 16 production sites and approximately 2,400 employees across nine countries. They include Centor’s U.S. operation and 15 facilities involved in producing primary plastic packaging for pharmaceutical and healthcare customers.
Centor provides packaging systems used to dispense prescription medicines in the United States. Gerresheimer’s Primary Packaging Plastics business produces plastic packaging that comes into direct contact with pharmaceutical products, including containers and other systems designed to store, protect and administer medications.
The two businesses generated combined revenue of approximately €570 million in 2025. They will be transferred through separate transactions that are expected to close independently, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.
Gerresheimer expects to complete the sale of Centor by the end of its 2026 financial year. The sale of the broader Primary Packaging Plastics business is expected to close during the first half of financial year 2027.
Gerresheimer plans to use the expected cash proceeds to reduce debt and improve its capital and financing structure. The company expects the transactions to meaningfully decrease leverage and, together with a planned refinancing, lower its interest expenses.
Leverage generally measures a company’s debt relative to its earnings or other financial resources. Reducing leverage can lower financing costs, improve balance-sheet flexibility and give a company more capacity to invest in its remaining operations.
The sale will also allow Gerresheimer to concentrate more heavily on higher-value pharmaceutical products, including drug delivery systems, medical devices and primary packaging for injectable medicines. These categories include syringes, vials, cartridges, pens, auto-injectors and other products used to store or administer pharmaceutical treatments.
Injectable drug packaging has become an increasingly important market as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies develop biologic medicines, weight-management therapies and other treatments requiring specialized delivery systems. These products frequently require strict manufacturing standards because the packaging must protect the medicine and support safe, reliable administration.
Following the divestitures, Gerresheimer will retain a broad portfolio serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare and cosmetics companies. Its remaining products include infusion bottles, dropper and syrup bottles, tablet containers, vials, syringes, inhal bottles, dropper and syrup bottles, tablet containers, vers, ampoules, cartridges, on-body devices and digital therapy-support solutions.
The company is also continuing a wider transformation program intended to improve its operating performance and free cash flow. The debt reduction expected from the sales could support those efforts by reducing the amount of cash directed toward interest payments.
Apax intends to establish Centor and the Primary Packaging Plastics operations as an independent healthcare packaging company. The new business would retain established positions in prescription vials and pharmaceutical packaging while operating separately from Gerresheimer.
The investment firm plans to support the company’s expansion through additional capital for manufacturing capacity, product innovation and growth in the United States. Apax also expects to use its experience with corporate carveouts to separate the operations from Gerresheimer and create the systems required for an independent organization.
A carveout transaction involves separating a business unit from its former parent company. This can require the creation or replacement of standalone technology, financial, human resources, procurement and administrative systems that were previously shared with the parent.
Healthcare packaging is subject to strict quality, regulatory and reliability requirements because failures can affect the stability, dispensing and safe use of medications. Centor and the Primary Packaging Plastics business provide products used to dispense medicines to millions of patients.
Gerresheimer operates 39 production sites across Europe, the Americas and Asia. Together with Bormioli Pharma, the group generated approximately €2.3 billion in revenue during 2025 and employs more than 13,000 people.
Apax is a global private equity advisory firm focused on mid-market companies across technology, services, and internet and consumer sectors. The firm has more than 50 years of private equity experience and has raised or advised funds with aggregate commitments of approximately $80 billion.
Support: Morgan Stanley & Co. International is serving as Gerresheimer’s lead financial advisor. Commerzbank is also advising the company and provided fairness opinions, while Latham & Watkins is acting as Gerresheimer’s legal counsel.
KEY QUOTES:
“This transaction allows us to regain our strategic flexibility. At the same time, as a leading global partner to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, we are focusing our business even more strongly on high-value drug delivery and medical devices, and primary packaging for injectable drugs.”
Uwe Röhrhoff, CEO of Gerresheimer
“Centor and Primary Packaging Plastics are market leaders in prescription vials and primary pharmaceutical packaging, built on a decades long reputation for quality and reliability. We have significant experience in carveouts and, together with our Operational Excellence Practice, we will work alongside management to establish a strong, standalone company positioned for long term growth.”
Anders Meyerhoff, Partner at Apax
“Healthcare packaging plays a critical role in patient safety, with Centor’s and Primary Packaging Plastics’ products used to dispense medicines safely to millions of patients every day. As an independent company backed by the Apax Funds, the business will have the capital to invest in capacity, innovation and U.S. expansion, building on its global leadership in healthcare packaging.”
Mehmet Tar, Principal at Apax
“This transaction is an important milestone in optimizing our capital and financing structure, decreasing our leverage significantly. We will use the expected cash inflows to accelerate our debt reduction. Together with the planned comprehensive refinancing, this will significantly reduce our interest expenses and achieve a sustainable capital structure. In addition, the continued implementation of our transformation program will also have a positive impact on our operating and free cash flow.”
Wolf Lehmann, CFO of Gerresheimer
