Bavarian Nordic CEO Says Buyout Needed to Fund Growth Strategy

Bavarian Nordic A/S’s chief executive officer says the proposed buyout offer from two private equity firms underscores the capital needed to back the Danish biotech’s ambition of becoming a global vaccine powerhouse.

Nordic Capital and Permira share Bavarian’s vision of turning “unloved” vaccine assets into growth engines, which will demand substantial new funding, CEO Paul Chaplin said in an interview on Friday.

“They know that significant additional investments are going to be required,” he said. “And that’s the rationale that we’ve all bought into.”

The 19 billion-krone ($2.95 billion) bid from Permira and Nordic Capital, announced last month, has ...