Private equity heavyweight GTCR has agreed to acquire Czech generic drugmaker Zentiva from Advent International in a deal worth €4.1 billion ($4.8 billion), the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing sources close to the matter.
The transaction, which has reportedly been finalized and is expected to be announced within days, represents one of the largest European healthcare buyouts of 2025.
Zentiva manufactures a wide portfolio of generic and over-the-counter drugs and has steadily grown into a major player in Europe’s pharmaceutical landscape. The company now operates in more than 30 countries and employs over 5,000 staff, according to its website.
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Founded in Prague, Zentiva was acquired by Advent from French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi in 2018 for €1.9 billion, a price that now looks modest given the company’s expansion and rising valuation. Under Advent’s ownership, Zentiva invested heavily in production capacity and geographic diversification, strengthening its position across Central and Eastern Europe while making inroads into Western Europe.
A Competitive Sale Process
The sale attracted significant global interest. India’s Economic Times reported last month that Aurobindo Pharma, one of India’s largest generics manufacturers, had been leading the race to acquire Zentiva with an offer reportedly valued at up to $5.5 billion. Other bidders were also said to have been in the mix, highlighting the strategic importance of generic drugmakers at a time when healthcare costs are under pressure and demand for affordable medicines is surging worldwide.
GTCR’s victory underscores private equity’s growing appetite for healthcare deals, particularly in the generics space, where margins are slim but opportunities for consolidation and scale are plentiful.
For GTCR, the deal represents a significant bet on the resilience of the generic drugs market, which benefits from strong long-term demand drivers such as aging populations, patent expirations of branded drugs, and government initiatives to reduce healthcare costs. Unlike biotech or branded pharma investments, which are subject to high R&D risk, generic drugmakers like Zentiva generate steady cash flows from established products, making them attractive private equity targets.
The timing also reflects wider momentum in healthcare M&A. Private equity firms have been circling European generics manufacturers amid a broader wave of consolidation, as firms seek to build pan-European platforms capable of competing with global giants such as Teva, Sandoz, and Viatris.
How It Stacks Up Globally
The GTCR-Zentiva deal is notable not just for its size but also for how it compares with other recent private equity moves in European healthcare. Rival buyout houses have been equally aggressive:
- EQT recently boosted its healthcare portfolio by backing German generics producer Stada, signaling continued interest in building scale in Europe.
- Carlyle has been active in specialty pharma and medtech, snapping up stakes in companies with strong recurring revenues.
- Meanwhile, Bain Capital and Cinven jointly acquired Lonza’s specialty ingredients unit for over $4 billion, underscoring the appetite for large-scale European healthcare assets.
Against this backdrop, GTCR’s acquisition of Zentiva aligns with a pattern: large private equity funds betting on healthcare subsectors that promise stability amid economic volatility. Generics, in particular, have become a magnet for investors given their central role in lowering healthcare costs worldwide.
Once finalized, the transaction will mark a lucrative exit for Advent International, which more than doubled its original investment in just seven years. For GTCR, the challenge will be to maintain Zentiva’s growth trajectory while navigating an increasingly competitive generics market, where pricing pressure and regulatory scrutiny are persistent concerns.
Industry analysts suggest GTCR may pursue bolt-on acquisitions to expand Zentiva’s portfolio and geographic footprint further, while also investing in supply chain efficiency and digital transformation to defend margins.
If confirmed, the sale could reshape the competitive dynamics of Europe’s generics sector and signal a renewed wave of private equity-driven consolidation in healthcare — one increasingly defined by billion-dollar bets on affordable medicines.