Gerresheimer, a Germany-based packaging company that specializes in drug delivery systems and glass and plastic packaging, sold two of its units to the private equity group Apax Partners in a deal valued at €1.5 billion ($1.73 billion).
The two assets included in the sale were Centor US Holding and Gerresheimer’s Primary Packaging Plastics.
Centor, which is headquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio, was acquired by Gerresheimer for $725 million in 2015. Primary Packaging, which has 15 production facilities in 9 countries, is based in Bolivar, Ohio.
The Centor sale is expected to closed by the end of 2026, while the deal for Primary Packaging is expected to wrap up by the end of 2027.
Additional details of the acquisitions weren’t disclosed by mutual agreement, the company said.
Gerresheimer has been been going through a corporate restructure after posting a net loss of €318.7 million in 2025 versus net income of €84 the previous year. The company’s financial issues were triggered by an investigation by Germany’s financial regulator BaFin, high debt due to acquisitions and market pressures due to lower demand for some products.
“This transaction allows us to regain our strategic flexibility,” Uwe Röhrhoff, Gerresheimer’s chief executive, said in a statement.“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.”
Funds from the sale will go toward reducing the company’s overall debt, with the deal marking “an important milestone in optimizing our capital and financing structure,” said Wolf Lehmann, Gerresheimer’s CFO.