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Cinven Nears More Than $2.5 Billion Deal for BioAgilytix

Cinven Nears More Than $2.5 Billion Deal for BioAgilytix

Buyout firm Cinven is nearing a deal to acquire BioAgilytix in a transaction valuing the drug-research services company at more than $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. 

An agreement could be announced as soon as the coming days, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. BioAgilytix’s owner, investment firm Cobepa, plans to keep a stake in the business after the deal, according to the people. 

Cinven beat out a number of other private equity firms in the highly competitive bidding process, the people said. The deal values BioAgilytix at more than 30 times its estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the people said. The company generates roughly $75 million of annual profit on that basis, they said. 

BioAgilytix provides large molecule bioanalytical testing services, with locations in Durham, North Carolina as well as Boston and Hamburg, according to its website. Its customers include Gilead Sciences Inc., Novartis AG and Biogen Inc. 

Pharma Spending

A deal with Cinven could help BioAgilytix expand further in Europe. The private equity firm has previously invested in Synlab AG, a German laboratory services company, and contract research organization Medpace. 

Spokespeople for Cobepa and BioAgilytix didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, while a representative for Cinven declined to comment. 

BioAgilytix’s services can help shorten the time it takes to conduct clinical trials, reducing the cost of bringing new drugs to market. The company helped support more than a third of the biologics that received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 2018 to 2020, according to a marketing presentation reviewed by Bloomberg.

A transaction would add to a boom in activity involving companies that support drug development as money pours into research on new treatments. Investors have favored the sector as a way to gain exposure to pharmaceutical spending without the risk of investing directly in biotech companies whose success -- or failure -- rides on the therapies they’re testing.

In April, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. said it will purchase PPD Inc., a provider of clinical and research services, for $17.4 billion. In July, buyout firm EQT AB and Goldman Sachs Asset Management agreed to acquire Parexel for $8.5 billion.

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