LDC backs €44m Fishawack buyout to support ongoing growth strategy, in a deal advised by Clearwater International

Clearwater International has advised leading UK mid-market private equity investor LDC, on backing the management buyout of Fishawack Group Limited, the specialist provider of scientific communications services to global pharmaceutical companies. The deal values the business at €44m and LDC has committed further equity to accelerate Fishawack’s growth strategy, including potential acquisitions. It represents a strong exit for Growth Capital Partners (“GCP”) who supported the Management team in a secondary buyout in 2013.

Fishawack provides fully-integrated, cross-border services to global pharmaceutical organisations. It provides a variety of medical communications, market access and pharmacovigilance services to clients to drive the commercialisation of drug compounds. Its services are typically provided from phase II/III clinical trial stage through to post-approval and last for the full lifecycle of the patents on compounds.

The business operates across three sites in the UK, two in USA and one in Switzerland. It is contracted with 15 of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies, including GSK, Sanofi and Novartis.

The investment is a tertiary buyout and will enable the Management team to accelerate its buy and build strategy through a number of targeted acquisitions over the medium term, in addition to supporting the growth of current client relationships.