At least one company has looked at the possibility of purchasing the Olds Banner Pharmacaps plant, a source with knowledge about the plant told the Olds Albertan.
At least one company has looked at the possibility of purchasing the Olds Banner Pharmacaps plant, a source with knowledge about the plant told the Olds Albertan.
The source spoke to the Albertan on condition of anonymity due to concerns that speaking to the media could have consequences for their employment at the plant.
Patheon Inc., a pharmaceutical company headquartered in North Carolina that bought Banner in December for $255 million US, announced in March it will permanently close the Olds facility as of Oct. 31.
The plant, which has operated in Olds for 32 years and develops and manufactures soft gel pharmaceutical and nutritional products, employed more than 100 people at the time the closure was announced.
The source said representatives from Accucaps Industries, an Ontario-based manufacturer of soft gelatin capsules, toured the plant in early May and expressed interest in possibly purchasing the facility.
As far as the source knows, the plant has not been sold as of early August.
Jayme Owen, a spokeswoman for Patheon Inc., said the company would not talk about any potential sale of the plant.
"It’s our policy to not comment on any of the (mergers and acquisitions) activity," she said. "It’s just our policy to not comment on any speculation."
Requests for comment from Accucaps Industries went unreturned.
At the time of the closure announcement, Patheon’s chief administrative officer, James Mullen, said the closure is part of a company-wide downsizing effort to make its operations more cost-effective and efficient and will save the company roughly $8 million.
Owen said there was nothing new to report on the planned closure of the plant and the source who spoke to the Albertan said production operations are continuing as normal.
The plant is currently advertising for temporary production positions.
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