Summer Heat Sinks Deal Making in July

by | Aug 3, 2017 4:09 pm | Healthcare Market Updates

Deal makers took a break in July, judging by the lower deal volume and lower deal value posted in our preliminary data for the month. Compared with the previous month, deal volume dropped 20%, to 100 transactions, and deal value fell 49%, to $8.7 billion. Third quarters are typically slower for mergers and acquisitions, although there have been a few exceptions. In 2015, a record 411 deals were announced in Q3, which was 17% better than the same quarter in 2014, and 10% better than the third quarter in 2016. With little more than one month into Q3:17, we’ve logged 106 transactions. Not exactly a strong pace, but that could change. At this writing, the Senate Republicans failed to get the... Read More »

LabCorp Lands a Global CRO

by | Aug 3, 2017 2:17 pm | CRO, Private Equity

In late July, Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE: LH) announced the 6th CRO deal to surpass the $1 billion mark this year. The $1.2 billion deal for Chiltern is its third announced transaction this year, having acquired Mount Sinai’s Clinical Outreach Laboratories (January) and Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories, LLC (February). Despite activity in the Laboratory, MRI & Dialysis sector, LabCorp was on the hunt for a CRO target all year, but with little luck. Back in February, it was rumored that LabCorp was looking to buy Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC for $8 billion. PPD ended up going to Hellman & Friedman LLC, a long time... Read More »

Pamplona Capital Wins Auction for PAREXEL

by | Jun 28, 2017 7:35 pm | CRO, Other Services

Pamplona Capital Management LLP, a New York-based private equity firm, has been on the hunt for a contract research organization (CRO) for the past year. According to a report from Reuters, it made an unsuccessful bid earlier this year for Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC, a U.S. clinical trials firm valued at more than $9 billion. On June 20, 2017, Pamplona bagged a different target. The firm announced its acquisition of PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ: PRXL) in a going-private transaction. According to other reports, Parexel’s advisers initially accepted PE firm offers, but later opened up the auction to industry players as well. Pamplona outbid rivals including... Read More »

PE Firms Are Big on CROs

by | May 3, 2017 5:53 pm | CRO, Laboratories, MRI & Dialysis, Private Equity

Private equity firms are taking big stakes in contract research organizations (CROs) in 2017. Through May 3, 12 CRO deals have been announced this year, up 140% from the same period last year, when only five deals were announced (these numbers do not include contract manufacturing organization deals). In late April, The Carlyle Group was rumored to be weighing the acquisition of Albany Molecular Research Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRI), a New York-based CRO. A week later, the private equity firm announced the sale of its majority stake in Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD), a global contract research organization that provides comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory... Read More »

CRO Deals Are Hot and About to Get Hotter

by | Feb 9, 2017 9:49 pm | CRO, Other Services, Private Equity

The need for outsourced research and development services has caused a huge increase in the number of deals for contract research organizations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs).  In 2016, 36 acquisitions of CROs and CMOs were announced in 2016, a 157% increase from 2015’s total of 14 deals, according to data reported in the Health Care Services Acquisition Report, 2017. That pace is picking up. In the first six weeks of 2017, six CRO/CMO deals have been announced,with even more to come. Last week, Reuters reported that Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE: LH) is in talks to buy Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC (PPD), a portfolio company of Hellman &... Read More »