Synexus on verge of listing
LDC, the private-equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, is considering an initial public offering of outsourced clinical-trials company Synexus, headquartered in Chorley, Lancashire.
The private-equity group has begun talks with advisers about listing the company on the London Stock Exchange as soon as the first quarter of 2016, according to Bloomberg.
The news comes after LDC backed a management buyout of the company in an £83m deal in February this year.
Then, LDC said it was backing the management team’s plan to grow Synexus’ market share both organically and by acquisition – with several targets on its radar which would boost its customer offering and its geographic footprint.
The company which was taken private from AIM by private equity firm Lyceum Capital in 2007 for £18m, works for many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, Glaxo SmithKline and Pfizer, for which it recruits and treats patients in clinical trials in support of drug research.
Synexus operates a network of 25 owned Dedicated Clinical Research Centres (“DRCs”) in eight countries including the UK, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and South Africa, which enables it to access a population of over 68 million potential patients on behalf of its clients.
In addition, it has a network of 25 complementary affiliate sites. It employs more than 600 people including 100 physicians solely dedicated to delivering trials.
LDC declined to comment.
