European specialist investor in healthcare acquires Caprion from Chicago Growth Partners
MONTREAL, July 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Caprion Biosciences announced today that the company has been recapitalized and acquired by GHO Capital, the European specialist investor in healthcare based in London, UK. The company was acquired from Chicago Growth Partners, Caprion's majority shareholder since 2012. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Caprion is a leading global provider of specialized immunology and proteomics analytical laboratory services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The company has achieved strong growth in recent years based on rapidly expanding client demand for the high quality differentiated services of its ImmuneCarta® platform for monitoring immune response of patients in clinical development of drugs that involve the immune system, as well as for its ProteoCarta™ proteomics platform for the identification and quantification of proteins for biomarker discovery and validation, and for quality control in the manufacturing processes of biological drugs. Caprion is well positioned for continued growth particularly in the rapidly expanding R&D services markets of immune oncology therapies, precision medicine biomarkers and biologics drugs. The company, which currently has 107 employees including 67 with PhD and/or MSc degrees, will continue to operate from its existing facilities and headquarters in Montreal, Canada under the leadership of Caprion's current management team.
Martin LeBlanc, CEO of Caprion, stated: "This transaction represents another very successful outcome for private equity shareholders of Caprion and tangible evidence of the strong business performance and growth that Caprion has achieved during our 4-year partnership with Chicago Growth Partners."
"We are also delighted to enter into this exciting new partnership with GHO Capital. GHO Capital brings a unique combination and depth of industry expertise, network and strategic insights that will undoubtedly help us maintain our rapid growth trajectory as we continue to build on our leading immunology and proteomics services to further broaden our customer base and pursue our expansion in Europe and internationally."
Dr. Arda Minocherhomjee, Managing Partner of Chicago Growth Partners commented: "It has been a privilege to work with Caprion as sponsor and partner over the past 4 years. We are very pleased with this transaction and wish Caprion and GHO Capital best of continued success in their business and partnership."
Mike Mortimer, Partner at GHO Capital, stated: "We believe that Caprion is a world-class business operating in a highly attractive, rapidly growing segment. As a well-respected service provider to the pharmaceutical industry, the management team has developed a scalable business model capable of delivering significant further growth, making this an exciting investment opportunity for our fund. With favourable market dynamics in immuno-oncology and proteomics, Caprion is well-positioned to expand its capabilities on a global scale".
Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP provided legal advice, William Blair & Company, LLC provided financial advice and PricewaterhouseCoopers provided accounting advice to Caprion in this transaction. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP provided legal advice, Collins Barrow Toronto provided financial advice and DNA Capital Inc. provided advisory services to GHO Capital.
About Caprion Biosciences, Inc.
Caprion Biosciences is the leading provider of proteomics and immune monitoring services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Its immune monitoring business unit, ImmuneCarta®, offers proprietary multiparametric flow cytometry services for functional analyses of innate and adaptive immune responses. Caprion's proteomics business unit, ProteoCarta™, offers proprietary gel-free, label-free mass spectrometry (MS) for comprehensive, quantitative and robust comparative measurement of proteins across large sets of biological samples for the discovery and validation of protein biomarkers. Caprion also leverages ProteoCarta and ImmuneCarta to develop its own in-vitro diagnostic products targeting cancer, metabolic and infectious diseases. Based in Montreal, Canada, Caprion has been providing large-scale proteomics and immune monitoring services to over 50 major pharmaceutical and biotech clients for more than 15 years. For more information, please visit www.caprion.com.
About GHO Capital
Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP, was founded in 2014 as a specialist healthcare investment adviser based in London. Its vision is to apply global capabilities and perspectives to build a world-class healthcare specialist private equity firm by recognising and seizing the highly attractive and underpenetrated European market opportunity. The firm has a powerful combination of transaction, investment and industry skills which sets it apart from traditional private equity firms. For further information, please visit www.ghocapital.com.
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