LDC exits Synexus to PPD in £178m deal

Under the GP's tenure, Synexus expanded through the acquisition of Research Across America in March 2016, providing the business with an entry into the US market.

In the past 12 months the company has also opened new research centres in Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.

LDC has made a number of exits in recent months. Since the beginning of April it has reaped a 4x return on the trade sale of Property Software Holdings, a 2.4x return on the listing of Joules, 2.3x on the trade sale of Orion Media and 2.3x on the trade sale of Original Additions.

Previous funding
LDC acquired Synexus from Lyceum Capital in February 2015 in an £83m transaction, awarding the vendor a 2.8x return. BlueBay and HSBC provided debt facilities to support the transaction.

Company
Headquartered in Manchester and founded in 1998, Synexus is a clinical research business that operates through a network of 92 dedicated research centres, of which it owns 25. The company recruits and treats patients in clinical trials in support of drug research. It has a headcount of 850.

Customers are typically pharmaceutical companies and contract research organisations. Clients include AstraZeneca, Glaxo Smith Kline, J&J, Amgen, Pfizer, Roche, Paraxel and Icon.

People
LDC – Martin Draper (chief executive).
Synexus – Christophe Berthoux (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – NM Rothschild, Andrew Thomas, Julian Hudson, Adam Hansen (corporate finance); DLA Piper, James Kerrigan (legal).

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• Topics
• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Healthcare
• United Kingdom
• Trade sale
• LDC