The PharmaLex Group, a leading specialist provider of development consulting and scientific affairs, regulatory affairs and pharmacovigilance, has completed the acquisition of Arbour Group, LLC from Keystone Capital, Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Arbour is a leading provider of regulatory compliance solutions for the global life sciences industry. The Company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and has sales offices throughout North America along with global regulatory delivery centers in Dubai, UAE and Manila, Philippines.
“Arbour Group is a well-recognized service provider with excellent reputation in the regulatory compliance market”, explained Dr Thomas Dobmeyer, CEO PharmaLex. “Their specialist expertise will enable us to drive business in the US whilst allowing us to expand our quality management and compliance service line worldwide. In addition, it supports one of our key focus of developing connected health solutions to help customers drive efficiency gains within their own operations,” he added.
Senior management team members Alexander Patterson, Ahsan Raza, and Christopher McNally will be continuing in their current operating roles and as shareholders in Arbour post-closing. “The merger with PharmaLex provides Arbour the ability to deliver broad-spectrum regulatory and pharmaceutical service offerings, which our global customer base is demanding as their operating environments become increasingly complex,” noted Alexander Patterson, Founder and CEO of Arbour Group. “We are delighted to be partnered with an organization that shares the values and market reputation, which we have maintained with our customers throughout our 23-year history.”
“We are pleased with the outcome of the Arbour/PharmaLex transaction, as we believe that these organizations will be a terrific fit in a rapidly evolving industry. We wish both teams the best of luck with the combination,” noted Jason Van Zant, Managing Director, Keystone Capital.
Legal counsel was provided to Keystone and Arbour by Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, LLP, and Fairmount Partners served as Keystone and Arbour’s financial advisor. McDermott Will & Emery LLP served as PharmaLex’s legal counsel, and Rödl Langford de Kock LLP provided tax and accounting advice.
About Fairmount Partners
Fairmount Partners is an independent merger and acquisition advisory firm focused on emerging growth and middle market companies. Fairmount helps its clients complete mergers and acquisitions; raise funds for growth, acquisitions and liquidity; and design and improve their corporate development strategies. Fairmount’s clients include successful entrepreneurs, private equity-sponsored enterprises, and global public companies. Since 2003, Fairmount has completed more than 225 transactions, representing over $10 billion in aggregate value, in 20 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Further information is available at www.fairmountpartners.com.
About Arbour Group
Founded in 1997, Arbour Group is a leading provider of regulatory compliance services for the global life sciences industry. Arbour specializes in the areas of software validation, packaged compliance solutions, and software testing/auditing to ensure client compliance with applicable global regulatory bodies. Arbour partners with name-brand clients in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device fields both domestically and internationally. For more information on Arbour, please visit the company’s website at www.arbourgroup.com.
About PharmaLex
PharmaLex is one of the largest providers of specialist services for development consulting, regulatory affairs, quality management & compliance and pharmacovigilance, epidemiology and risk management worldwide. PharmaLex’s global teams of experts help clients navigate through early strategic planning activities and non-clinical requirements to clinical development, through regulatory submission processes and through market approval and product maintenance post-launch activities. The PharmaLex Group now has over 1000 employees, with 32 offices in 20 countries and more than 600 satisfied clients worldwide. For more information on PharmaLex, please visit the company’s website at www.pharmalex.com.
About AUCTUS
AUCTUS Capital Partners AG is a private equity fund founded by entrepreneurs. With over 200 successfully executed transaction in the last 19 years, AUCTUS is the leading private equity investor in the German-Speaking SME sector. The investment focus is on Buy-and-Build strategies that create market leaders via consolidation national and international companies. 23 experienced investment professionals with more than 100 years of private equity experience form the investment team. The current AUCTUS portfolio generates sales well above EUR 1 billion in revenues at double-digit margins. Within the last five years AUCTUS received dozens of awards for being the best German-speaking fund as well as for being the best Buy-and-Build fund. AUCTUS manages fund capital of more than EUR 500 million. www.auctus.com
About Keystone
Keystone Capital, Inc. is a private investment firm based in Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1994, its mission is to acquire and build a portfolio of exceptionally high quality, mid-sized businesses that are leaders in their niche markets. Keystone is differentiated by its investment of personal as opposed to third-party capital, which results in investment horizon flexibility and an ability to enter into true long-term operating partnerships with the professional management teams of its companies.
