London-based private equity firm Permira shelled out 703 million pounds sterling ($886 million) to take U.K-based CRO Ergomed private.
The deal, which was completed Sept. 4, involved a cash offer of 13.50 euros per share, representing a 28% premium to Ergomed’s last closing price of 10.52 euros on Sept. 1, the companies said in a joint release (PDF).
The CRO’s board of directors approved the deal. Advisers for Ergomed were Jefferies and Numis.
Ergomed, which was founded in 1997, provides clinical research and trial management services globally with a specialty in oncology and rare diseases.
Ergomed is headquartered in Guildford, England, with offices across Europe as well as in the U.S. and Asia. The company began boosting its rare disease and oncology services and North American presence when it acquired Houston-based CRO MedSource for an undisclosed price in 2020.
Permira spent $2 billion in 2019 to buy the CDMO Cambrex. More recent acquisitions have included $5.8 billion for the cloud-based email service Mimecast and more than $14 billion for antivirus software company McAfee, both completed in 2022.