Novo A/S, which owns Novo Nordisk and Novozymes, is on an acquisition raid. The company wishes to diversify the risk by acquiring a third leg and is consequently inviting potential companies in the Danish medical industry to enter into merger agreements.

Novo A/S, which is the major shareholder in Novo Nordisk and Novozymes, is taking a strategic tiger leap announcing that the company is ready for risk diversification by spending more than EUR 2½ billion on a single investment, which is to operate as a third leg in the Novo Nordisk Fund’s investment company, writes Børsen Business Daily.

“It will at a minimum be the size of Novozymes (which in 2007 had a turnover of EUR 1 billion) because with the speed of Novo Nordisk’s growth rate it will have to have a certain size in order not to disappear in the crowd, says General Manager Henrik Gürtler from Novo A/S to Børsen.

The holding company has generated cash as profits and shares redemption from Novo Nordisk, which last year sold for over EUR 5 billion as well as Novozymes has sent billions to Novo A/S. The company is now investing EUR 65 million annually in venture capital for biotech companies and the remaining part is invested through funds administrators.