Charles River Labs Adds MPI Research

Charles River Labs Adds MPI Research

The CRO deals just keep coming. Four have been announced since the beginning of the year,  targeting contract research organizations (CROs). The latest announcement came from Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE: CRL), which is paying $800 million for Mattawan, Michigan-based MPI Research. This is the highest disclosed price for an acquisition by Charles River since 2011. MPI is a premier non-clinical contract research organization (CRO) that provides comprehensive testing services to biopharmaceutical and medical device companies worldwide. Its acquisition enhances Charles River’s ability to partner with clients across the drug discovery and development continuum. This... Read More »
Stat of the Week: PE Firms Accounted for 10% of 2017 Deals

Stat of the Week: PE Firms Accounted for 10% of 2017 Deals

2017 was a busy year for healthcare mergers and acquisitions, with 1,566 transactions announced. At this early date, that total is 2% below the previous year’s total of 1,593 (a record year, by the way). Private equity firms contributed to that total, announcing 158 transactions, or 10% of the annual total, according to data obtained from our DealSearchOnline.com database. That total is equal to the previous year’s 156 announced transactions. Private equity firms typically don’t disclose financial terms when they announce transactions (if they announce them at all), so it’s interesting to see these firms did disclose some $22.0 billion on healthcare transactions in... Read More »
CRO Deals Pile Up, and So Do the Multiples

CRO Deals Pile Up, and So Do the Multiples

After 34 announced transactions in 2017, the news that one contract research organization (CRO) bought another CRO is downright yawn-inducing. This space is undergoing rapid consolidation, no question. Before this week, those 34 deals had a combined total of approximately $20.9 billion. Add another deal, and another $950 million, and the market just got a tad smaller. Catalent, Inc. (NYSE: CTLT) announced the 35th deal in this sector on September 19. Its target, Indiana-based Cook Pharmica LLC, is a biologics-focused contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with capabilities across biologics development, clinical and commercial cell culture manufacturing,... Read More »