Kirkland Advises Galderma and the EQT-led Consortium on Structuring and Implementation of Galderma’s IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange

Kirkland & Ellis advised Galderma Group AG, a leading maker of dermatological products, on the structuring and implementation of its IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Kirkland advised EQT on the original acquisition of Galderma (formerly Nestlé Skin Health) in 2019 by a consortium of investors led by EQT alongside the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, GIC and other institutional investors. The offering consisted of up to 37,233,708 newly issued shares and up to 276,909 existing shares sold by Sunshine SwissCo AG (EQT), with an over-allotment option of up to 5,626,592 existing registered shares granted by EQT together with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Auba Investment Pte. Ltd (GIC).

The IPO priced at the top of the range at CHF 53 per share and the share price closed at CHF 64 per share at the end of the first trading day, implying a market capitalization of CHF 15 billion (USD 17 billion). The IPO is one of the largest IPOs in Europe in recent times and the largest IPO in Switzerland since 2017. Galderma will be included in the Swiss Performance Index (SPI).

Read EQT’s press release and Galderma’s press release

The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Aneeq Durrani, Adrian Maguire, Adrian Duncan and Greg Scott and associates Jamie Gordon, George Rawlinson and Usman Hamid Malik; capital markets partners William Burke, Christine Strumpen-Darrie and Michael Taufner; tax partners Mavnick Nerwal, Sara Zablotney, Ed Moberly and Joseph Tootle and associate Yewande Ford; and executive compensation partners Michael Krasnovsky and Jake Ebers and associate Annemarie Mierzejewski.