Novalpina secures UK Court injunction to block Ares’ potential sale of Laboratoire XO
- Bianca Boorer
On 10 May, the UK High Court granted UK private equity firm Novalpina (now known as NOAL SCSP) acting by its managing general partner Berkeley Research Group (BRG) an injunction to block Ares Management from selling its shares in French pharmaceuticals business Laboratoire XO (LXO) until 20 May. BRG is seeking to restore ownership of the French Healthcare group to Novalpina after Ares took control of the business last week.
According to a report from the Financial Times, Ares refused to extend a change of control waiver under a €150m loan it lent to LXO (€100m drawn). The change of control was triggered by US consultancy firm BRG’s appointment to take over the running of Novalpina’s investments last summer.