Novo Wins EU Approval for Deal to Acquire Catalent Plants

Novo Holdings, the shareholder that controls Novo Nordisk A/S, won European Union approval for its acquisition of Catalent Inc.

The EU unconditionally signed off on the deal after finding that the deal would not raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area, regulators said in a statement Friday. Novo’s biggest shareholder is buying Catalent, one of the world’s largest drug-manufacturing companies, for $16.5 billion, including debt.

Novo Holdings, which controls about 77% of the votes in what is now Europe’s most valuable company, has stepped up its deal-making amid surging demand for Novo’s weight-loss drug Wegovy and ...