The deal, which has an enterprise value of £3bn, is the first one by Cinven’s seventh fund
US buyout firm KKR has agreed to sell the life sciences company LGC Group to a consortium jointly led by private equity groups Cinven and Astorg.
The deal has an enterprise value of approximately £3bn, a personal familiar with the transaction told Private Equity News. KKR has made about three times its money since the acquisition of the company from Bridgepoint in 2015, the person said.
The private equity firms declined to comment on the financial terms of the transaction.
The investment is the first deal struck by Cinven’s seventh fund, closed in May after raising €10bn to invest in European buyouts and selective North American opportunities.
LGC, which provides measurement and testing solutions, reported a revenue of £448m in 2019, with organic revenue growth accelerating to 10% per annum since 2016. Under KKR’s ownership, the company made 15 acquisitions in the last five years.
London-based Cinven and Paris-based Astorg said they identified LGC as an attractive investment opportunity because of its “strong performance and organic growth” and they saw “significant future development opportunities”.
Established in 1842, LGC employs more than 3,200 people, is headquartered in the UK and serves almost 50,000 laboratories worldwide from its global office network spanning 22 countries across five continents.
“Cinven’s investment in LGC was identified as a result of the healthcare sector team’s focus on the life sciences space,” said Supraj Rajagopalan, partner at Cinven. “LGC is exposed to a wide range of diversified and fast-growing end markets across the Standards and Genomics sectors and we look forward to working with the highly experienced management team to continue investing in strengthening and broadening LGC’s global footprint and portfolio of leading, high-quality products.”
The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals.
Source: Private Equity News
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