Elliott, Patient Square and Veritas Take Syneos Health Private in $7.1bn Deal

Syneos Health has officially gone private, the company announced Thursday morning. The 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree completed the $7.1bn all-cash transaction with a cohort of private equity firms, including Elliott Investment Management, Patient Square Capital and Veritas Capital.

The deal was first announced in May with the unanimous approval of the board of directors and received approval from shareholders in early August.

At the time the deal was announced, John Dineen, chair of the Syneos Health Board of Directors, stated that the company’s leaders determined that the transaction maximized the value for shareholders as well as all other vested stakeholders.

Shareholders will receive $43 in cash for each share of commonly held stock in Syneos as the stock is removed from its listing on the Nasdaq. The purchase price represented a 24% premium to Syneos’ closing stock price on February 13.

Going forward, Syneos will remain headquartered in North Carolina.

Company leaders didn’t opine on the deal closing in a press release announcing the news, but when the shareholders greenlit the transaction last month, Syneos CEO Michelle Keefe said she was eager to advance to the next chapter.

“We look forward to closing the transaction, further executing on our growth priorities, and driving customer success by delivering fit-for-purpose, integrated solutions that help them bring life-saving therapies to patients,” she said in a statement.

The company had been in search of a buyer since initiating a comprehensive review in early 2020 that was ultimately put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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According to MM+M’s 2023 Agency 100 revenue chart, Syneos’ commercial side saw its revenue drop 2% to an MM+M-estimated $260m in 2022.

Over the past year, Syneos has launched two agency brands, standalone market-access shop Spherico and oncology-focused unit Genicos, while also making a series of personnel moves.

Syneos CFO Jason Meggs announced his departure in January and was replaced by industry veteran Michael Bonello on July 1. Meanwhile, Jeanine O’Kane was tapped as president of Syneos Health Communications while Shauna Keough was promoted to president of U.S. public relations in early April.

The deal also closed days after Syneos named longtime Sanofi clinical operations exec Terttu Haring, MD, as president of its clinical sites and patients team.

Source: MM+M

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