Waterland invests in IMC

Katharine Hidalgo
22 May 2020

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Waterland Private Equity has acquired healthcare communications group IMC.

For the majority stake, the firm drew equity from its Waterland Private Equity Fund VII, which closed on €2bn in August 2017. The fund was 30% deployed as of November 2019.

The deal is in line with Waterland's standard investment criteria of equity cheques of €10-200m in companies with EBITDA of €5-15m, according to a source close to the situation.

Management has retained a stake in the company.

The firm will support the company in its buy-and-build strategy, with "significant" follow-on funding available, according to a statement. The company will target pharmaceutical communications, digital agencies and consultancies across the UK, North America, Europe and the Middle East for acquisitions.

Viv Adshead, former president and CEO of Ashfield Communications, has agreed to join the board as a non-executive director.

This is the second UK-based healthcare communications agency to be acquired by private equity in 2020. In March 2020, US-based firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice and the board of healthcare communications and public relations group Huntsworth announced an agreement on the terms of a takeover offer giving the company an enterprise value of £524m.

Company
IMC was founded in 2006 and has offices in London and Cambridge in the UK, Toronto and Boston in North America, and Cairo, Egypt, and employs 100 people. It provides healthcare communication and medical affairs support to drug companies, including AstraZeneca and Takeda, according to a statement.

Five integrated services are currently offered: medical communication; interactive, digital and virtual; creative marketing; customer insights; and patient engagement.

People
Waterland Private Equity – Dominic Graham (senior investment manager); Wouter Roduner (partner).

Advisers
Equity – PwC (financial due diligence, tax); Candesic (commercial due diligence); DWF (legal); Clearwater International (debt advisory); Marsh (insurance due diligence).