Inflexion acquires minority stake in Proteros

Rachel Lewis
09 January 2023

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London-based sponsor Inflexion has acquired a non-controlling stake in German contract research organisation Proteros Biostructures, as it continues to deploy its minority investment strategy.

The GP is investing in the founder-led company via its dedicated minority investment fund, Inflexion Partnership Capital Fund II, according to a press release. The GBP 1.3bn vehicle has been in deployment phase since late 2018.

Proteros, a specialist in structural biology that supports over 200 pharma and biotech companies globally, aims to scale internationally both organically and through acquisition, particularly in the US.

The company said in a statement that the new capital will help to drive sustainable growth across all of its business units, including cryo-EM, biologics and proteins, and discovery solutions for technically challenging drug targets.

The group's founder Torsten Neuefeind will remain majority shareholder and will continue as CEO.

The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2023.

Proteros is the third pharmaceutical services deal for Inflexion in the past year, with the sponsor investing GBP 300m across the deals with an aggregated enterprise value of GBP 600m, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The sponsor took majority stakes in Irish CMO SteriPack and British CDMO Upperton.

It made its first exit from Partnership Capital II in August 2022, selling TICC group Phenna to Oakley Capital for a 5.5x return.

Company
Proteros is a Munich-based provider of structure-based early stage drug discovery services

People
Inflexion – David Whileman (head of partnership capital).
Proteros – Torsten Neuefeind (founder and CEO).

Advisors
Inflexion – Baird (M&A); Travers Smith (legal); KPMG (FDD); EY (tax); and PWC (CDD).
Proteros – Houlihan Lokey (M&A).