(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s private equity arm has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Norgine BV from the specialty pharmaceutical company’s founding Stein family.

The deal was announced in a statement Thursday that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The purchase values Amsterdam-based Norgine at about 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion), according to people familiar with the matter. 

Norgine, which traces its roots back more than a century, manufactures products including Movicol, Moviprep and Plenvu, drugs used in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. Goldman Sachs plans to grow the business in part through mergers and acquisitions.

“We have followed Norgine for many years and see great potential to help propel the platform through organic initiatives as well as innovative licensing and M&A,” Michael Bruun, head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa private equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in the statement.

The US bank’s buyout unit outbid at least two other private equity firms in an auction process for Norgine, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. The Stein family will continue to own a significant stake in the company. 

Norgine was advised by Moelis & Co., Rothschild & Co. and Jamieson Corporate Finance, while GSAM worked with Goldman Sachs’s own investment bank and Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

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