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Catalent Lining Up $4.1B BSL Debt to Refi Massive Private Credit Debt Backing Novo Holdings Buyout; JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley Co-Leading
Drug manufacturer Catalent is lining up a roughly $4.1 billion loan in the broadly syndicated market to refinance its massive private loan that direct lenders provided as part of Novo Holding’s 2024 acquisition of the company, according to sources.
JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are co-leading the refinancing, which is expected to launch soon, although the timing remains fluid and terms are subject to change, sources cautioned.
The refinancing will take out the roughly similar size of the private credit financing led by Ares and Blue Owl for Novo Holdings’ $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent in 2024 – one of the largest private credit transactions on record at the time, sources said.
According to Octus’ BDC Database, Antares Strategic Credit Fund, Apollo Debt Solutions, Ares Capital Corp., Blackstone Private Credit Fund, Blue Owl Capital Corp., Goldman Sachs Private Credit Corp. and Golub Capital BDC are among the several business development companies that hold a portion of a first lien loan to Creek Parent Inc., the Novo Holdings subsidiary created to acquire Catalent in 2024. The loan is priced at SOFR+500 bps and is set to expire in December 2031.
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Tampa, Fla., Catalent is a contract development and manufacturing organization, or CDMO, serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies through nearly 40 manufacturing and development sites globally, according to its website.
Novo Holdings completed its $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent in December 2024. As part of the deal, Novo Holdings agreed to sell three Catalent fill-finish sites in Anagni, Italy; Bloomington, Ind.; and Brussels, Belgium, to Novo Nordisk.
Catalent moved its global headquarters to Tampa from Somerset, N.J., in September 2025, nearly a year after its acquisition by Novo.
Last year, Vista Equity-backed financial software provider Finastra followed a similar path, refinancing its landmark $4.8 billion unitranche loan, originally provided by direct lenders, in the broadly syndicated loan market. The refinancing was led by JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, as Octus reported.
In the healthcare sector, senior direct lending refinancings priced at an average spread of SOFR+522.5 bps in the second quarter of 2026, down slightly from SOFR+526.4 bps in the first quarter, according to Octus’ Private Credit dashboard.
Elsewhere in the healthcare sector, the auction process for CooperSurgical, the women’s healthcare unit of CooperCompanies, has entered the second round, as Octus reported. Citi is running the sale process for the unit, which generates approximately $350 million in EBITDA.
In addition, Warburg Pincus and Great Hill Partners-backed ParetoHealth, an employee healthcare benefits manager, is preparing to explore a sale via JPMorgan, Octus reported. The company has EBITDA in the $250 million to $275 million range.
Catalent and Novo declined to comment. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comment.
Catalent’s capital structure at the close of Novo Holdings’ 2024 acquisition is shown below:
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