Novo Holdings A/S

Novo Holdings A/S
Company typePrivate
Industry
Founded1999 (1999)
Headquarters
Hellerup
,
Denmark
Key people
Total assetsDKK 1,060 billion (2024)
Approx. $161 billion (2024)
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.novoholdings.dk

Novo Holdings A/S (formerly Novo A/S)[1] is the Novo Nordisk Foundation's wholly owned holding company for Novo Nordisk A/S and Novonesis (formerly Novozymes A/S). Novo Holdings A/S was established in 1999 and manages the Novo Nordisk Foundation's assets, which by the end of 2024 was worth €142 billion (approximately US$165 billion).[2] The company generated a total income and investment return of DKK 31 billion (€4.2 billion) in 2023[3] and DKK 60 billion (€8 billion) in 2024.[4][5][6] By the end of 2024, Novo Holdings had a total of 181 companies[5] in its investment portfolio.[7]

It is the largest charitable foundation in the world making Novo Holdings A/S a world-leading life sciences investor.[8] Novo Holdings is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with offices in San Francisco, Boston and Singapore.

Eivind Kolding succeeded Henrik Gürtler as CEO in May 2014.[9] Kolding left Novo Holdings A/S in March 2016 and Kasim Kutay took over as CEO.[10]

Purpose

Novo Holdings A/S manages the Novo Nordisk Foundation's assets, aiming to enable and make a positive impact on health, science and society by generating long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which the Novo Nordisk Foundation in return can award as grants for scientific research and humanitarian and social purposes.[11][12][13]

The overall purpose of Novo Holdings A/S is to hold the position as the controlling majority shareholder of the Novo Group companies (Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S), aiming at making a positive impact on health, science and society by generating long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.[14] The Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation which is a self-governing entity with no owners, focusing on long-term ownership of the Novo Group (Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S) while combining business and philanthropy within scientific, humanitarian and social purposes. A key task of Novo Holdings A/S is to act as a stable basis for the commercial activities of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. Novo Holdings A/S also invests in both financial assets and in companies with application-oriented research in the life sciences.

Objectives

Novo Holdings A/S' objective is to grow the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. In addition to investing in equity and fixed income securities, Novo Holdings pursues direct investments in life science companies.[12] The Novo Nordisk Foundations share of financial returns generated from investments are added to the Novo Nordisk Foundation endowment and later distributed through charitable grants and awards aiming to improve the lives of people, science and society around the world.[12]

Novo Holdings A/S is recognised as a leading international life science investor focusing on creating long-term value.[11] Besides from being the controlling shareholder in the Novo Group companies (including Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S),[15] Novo Holdings also provides seed and venture capital to companies in the development-stage.[13]

Novo Holdings also takes on significant ownership in growth and well-established companies and manages a broad portfolio of diversified financial assets.[13][15]

Increased focus on industrial Biosolutions

In 2021–2022, Novo Holdings have announced an increased investment focusing on Biosolutions (also known under the term bioindustrials or biotechnologies within the healthcare and environmental spaces), aiming to make biotechnology a spearhead for the green transition.[16] Novo Holdings claim that the ambition is "to help remove the roadblocks wherever they are, paving the way for promising biologic discoveries to become new solutions".[16]

In 2021, Novo Holdings added numerous biotechnology companies to its portfolio, including 21st. BIO, which helps other biotechnology companies scale up production through an advanced technology platform.[17]

These diverse investments include companies supplying climate-neutral cement, biopesticides, synthetic silk biopolymers and many other products and solutions that challenge current conventions. Novo Holdings added eight bioindustrial companies to its portfolio in 2021 and invested approx. €98 million ($97.35 million) in total in the bioindustrial space.[17]

Investment profile

In 2021, the Novo Holdings portfolio focusing on Life Science Investment (Novo Seeds, Novo Growth, Novo Ventures and Novo Principal Investments[18]) made up 52% of the total portfolio[13] while the Novo Capital Investors made up the remaining 48% of the total portfolio.[13] The Life Science Investment portfolio and Novo Capital Investors generated returns of approximately DKK 12 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2021.[19][13]

  • Novo Holding A/S's most common sectors for investment are life sciences (38%) and diversified (13%).[12]
  • Novo Holding A/S's most common investment types are secondary buyouts (75%) and recapitalisation (13%).[12]
  • Novo Holdings A/S has invested in three US states and five different countries.[12]
  • Novo Holdings A/S' most common type of exit is secondary buyout (100%).[12]
  • Novo Holding A/S's largest (disclosed) investment was in 2013; the acquisition of Xellia Pharmaceuticals A/S for $700 million.[20][21][12]
  • Novo Holdings A/S' largest (disclosed) exit was in 2021 when Unchained Labs was sold to The Carlyle Group for $435 million.[22][23][24][12]

Novo Group

The Novo Group comprises Novo Holdings A/S, Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. Novo Holdings A/S owns more than 25% of the ordinary share capital of Novo Nordisk A/S and controls more than 70% of the votes through its ownership of all the preferred (A) shares, which are not traded.

The Group's main purpose is to manage the financial assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation to ensure an adequate financial return to cover the Foundation's investments and grants for scientific, humanitarian and social purposes and projects in the Nordic countries and the rest of the world. The Group achieves this by investing in life science companies in Europe and North America. The Novo Group also invests in a portfolio of financial assets.[25]

Senior management

In 2014, Henrik Gürtler stepped down as CEO after working in the position since the company was established in 1999. He was replaced by Eivind Kolding, previously the CEO of Danske Bank.[26] In February 2016, Eivind Kolding was dismissed as CEO of Novo A/S after two years in post. He was temporarily replaced until June 2016 by chairman Sten Scheibye. His successor as CEO of Novo Holdings A/S is Kasim Kutay,[27] a British citizen who previously worked for investment banks Morgan Stanley and Moelis & Company.

  • Kasim Kutay (CEO), 2016 – current
  • Sten Scheibye (chairman and interim CEO), March 2016 – June 2018
  • Eivind Kolding, 2014 – 2016
  • Henrik Gürtler, 1999 – 2014

Board of directors

The board of directors of Novo Holdings A/S has nine members and the Novo Holdings executive leadership Team has six:[28]

REPAIR Impact Fund

In February 2018, Novo Holdings announces the establishment of an impact fund commissioned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation with a total initial budget of US$165 million to invest in companies involved in discovering and early-stage development of therapies to combat antimicrobial resistance.[29]

According to CEO Kasim Kutay, Novo Holdings are looking to increase this type of investments in global healthcare challenges: “We are looking to increase investments of this type in the coming years, and we are excited about our potential to make a significant difference in improving global healthcare”.[30]

REPAIR is an acronym for: Replenishing and Enabling the Pipeline for Anti-Infective Resistance.[31]

Investments

In addition to the Novo Group, Novo Holdings A/S owns major stakes in several Danish companies, including the Xellia Group, Sonion and Chr. Hansen Holdings A/S. By the beginning of 2018 Novo Holdings A/S had a portfolio of 85 listed and unlisted Life Science companies in Europe and North America.

Novo Holdings A/S invests mainly in companies that develop, manufacture or sell medicine, new treatment methods or medical or health-related equipment.[32]

At the end of 2017, Novo Holdings A/S had allocated nearly DKK 38 billion for investment in portfolios in Large Investments, Ventures and Seeds of DKK 31.5 billion, DKK 5.9 billion and DKK 291 million, respectively.[33]

  • In April 2021, Novo Holdings made its first investment in an Asia-based company, Halodoc.[34]
  • In May 2013, Novo Holdings acquired all shares in the pharmaceutical company Xellia.[35]
  • In July 2014, Novo Holdings acquired all shares in Sonion, a manufacturer of components for the hearing aid industry.[36]
  • In March 2017, Novo Holdings acquired 20 percent of the shares in the UK listed company Convatec with Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdings A/S, joining the Board of Directors.[37]
  • In February 2024, Novo Holdings A/S agreed to acquire Catalent for $16.5 billion. On completion, Novo Nordisk would acquire three manufacturing facilities from parent Novo Holdings for $11 billion to scale up production to meet the demand of its obesity and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic respectively.[38][39]
  • In December 2024, Novo Holdngs sealed its $16.5 billion deal for Catalent with its aims to boost supplies of widely popular weight-loss drug Wegovy. This investment will allow Novo Nordisk to take control of three fill-finish facilities of the contract drug manufacturer in Italy, Belgium, and the U.S.[40]

References

  1. ^ "Novo A/S renamed Novo Holdings A/S". Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  2. ^ "Novo Holdings · Investments". Novo Holdings. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  3. ^ Novo Holdings annual report 2023: https://assets.novoholdings.dk/novo-holdings-2023-performance-report.pdf
  4. ^ "Novo Holdings' earnings nearly doubled in 2024, despite Novo Nordisk's stock slump". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on 2025-04-04. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  5. ^ a b Holdings, Novo. "Novo Holdings posts record Total Income and Investment Returns of DKK 60 billion (€8.0 billion) in 2024, with the Investment Portfolio delivering above-benchmark returns, alongside strong growth at the Novo Group companies". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  6. ^ Fick, Maggie; Jacobsen, Stine; Fick, Maggie (2025-04-02). "Novo Holdings nearly doubles earnings as Wegovy swells coffers". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  7. ^ "Novo Holdings · Investments". Novo Holdings. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  8. ^ "Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen & Kasim Kutay". The OECD Forum Network. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  9. ^ "Eivind Kolding bliver direktør for Novo A/S". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). 23 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  10. ^ "Novos pengetank får ny topchef". 21 June 2016. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Home". Novo Holdings. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Novo Holdings A/S Mergers and Acquisitions Summary | Mergr". mergr.com. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  13. ^ a b c d e f "Novo Holdings reports Total Income and Returns of DKK 37 billion (€5 billion) in 2021, representing a 29% increase over 2020". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  14. ^ Novo Holdings website: What We Do. https://www.novoholdings.dk/
  15. ^ a b Design, Mastafu. "Novo Holdings A/S | DANISH BIO – DANSK BIOTEK" (in Danish). Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  16. ^ a b "Responsible Investments". Novo Holdings. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  17. ^ a b "Record year for industrial biotechnology grants and investments". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  18. ^ "Investments". www.novoholdings.dk.
  19. ^ 2021 Annual Report: https://www.novoholdings.dk/wp-content/uploads/Novo-Holdings-Annual-Report-2021.pdf
  20. ^ "Novo A/S Acquires Xellia". Xellia Pharmaceuticals (Press release). Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  21. ^ Levin, Jennifer (2013-05-21). "Novo A/S acquires Xellia Pharmaceuticals for US$ 700 million". Fierce Pharma. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  22. ^ "Carlyle to acquire Unchained Labs for $435 million". Reuters. 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  23. ^ "The Carlyle Group to Acquire Rapidly Growing Life Sciences Tools Company Unchained Labs". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Unchained Labs. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  24. ^ "The Carlyle Group to Acquire Rapidly Growing Life Sciences Tools Company Unchained Labs | Carlyle". www.carlyle.com (Press release). Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  25. ^ "Ownership and subsidiaries | Novo Nordisk Fonden". Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  26. ^ "Eivind Kolding bliver direktør for Novo A/S". www.business.dk. 23 January 2014.
  27. ^ "After ousting former CEO, Novo A/S puts Kutay in charge of $57B investment vehicle". www.fiercebiotech.com. 22 June 2016.
  28. ^ "Leadership". Novo Holdings. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  29. ^ "Novo Holdings launches $165 MLN 'superbug' drug venture fund". Reuters. 28 February 2018.
  30. ^ "Novo Holdings launches €135m fund to combat antimicrobial resistance". european-biotechnology.com.
  31. ^ "Home". REPAIR Impact Fund.
  32. ^ "Stocks". Bloomberg News.
  33. ^ "Novo a/S annual report 2016". 2016.novo.dk.
  34. ^ Larsen, Mette (April 23, 2021). "Novo Holdings makes its first investment in an Asian health tech company". scandasia.com.
  35. ^ "Novo køber norsk biotekselskab for fire milliarder kroner". ing.dk (in Danish). 21 May 2013. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  36. ^ "Novo betaler op mod 4 milliarder kroner for Sonion" (in Danish). Berlingske. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  37. ^ "Novo to buy 20% stake in UK's ConvaTec". www.pharmatimes.com. 29 March 2017.
  38. ^ Gilbert, Daniel (2024-02-05). "Novo Nordisk buys manufacturing power as it seeks to ramp up Wegovy". The Washington Post.
  39. ^ Constantino, Annika Kim (2024-02-05). "Novo Nordisk parent to buy Catalent for $16.5 billion to expand Wegovy supply". CNBC.
  40. ^ "Novo Holdings closes $16.5 billion buyout of contract manufacturer Catalent". December 18, 2024.
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