Philadelphia, PA – Capstone Partners LLC, a leading international investment banking firm, announced that it has successfully advised Whitehouse Analytical Laboratories, LLC (Whitehouse Laboratories) on its sale to Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI) for $56.0 million in total consideration.
Whitehouse Laboratories specializes in providing outsourced analytical testing and consulting services to meet the increasingly complex needs of the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and personal care industries. The Company offers a broad array of testing solutions including chemical and materials analysis, method development and validation as well as quality control verification services. Widely recognized as a leading expert in container closure integrity and container qualification testing, Whitehouse Laboratories is benefitting from the expected adoption of more rigorous testing guidelines by the USP and growing awareness amongst biopharmaceutical manufacturers that proper packaging and container closure are integral to ensuring drug safety.
Whitehouse Laboratories was acquired by AMRI, a publicly traded global contract research and manufacturing organization that has been working with the Life Sciences industry to improve patient outcomes and the quality of life for more than two decades. With locations in North America, Europe and Asia, AMRI’s key business segments include Discovery and Development Services (DDS), Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and Drug Product Manufacturing. As a highly complementary fit for AMRI, Whitehouse Laboratories extends AMRI’s biopharmaceutical analytical services expertise and offerings and will profit from AMRI’s international reach and business development resources. With the proliferation of ever-tightening standards in the life sciences sector, heightened concern regarding quality and safety of pharmaceutical products and medical devices, and increased production and development of biologics and sophisticated drug delivery devices, organizations that manufacture such products face new challenges requiring more testing and complexity. These trends are driving demand for outsourced analytical testing services provided by Whitehouse Laboratories.
The Capstone M&A team of Eric Williams, Managing Director, and Mark Surowiak, Director, based in Philadelphia, PA, managed the transaction on behalf of the Company. “Whitehouse Laboratories has developed an impressive and diverse client base consisting of major and midsize pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device manufacturers. By clearly establishing itself as a leader in closure integrity and container qualification testing, the Company is well positioned to benefit from the adoption of more robust testing protocols as well as favorable industry dynamics in the biopharma outsourcing sector,” commented Eric Williams, adding, “The market is rewarding companies that can develop innovative and effective solutions to satisfy the increasing complexities of drug development, manufacturing and testing. With the ever changing labyrinth of standards, mounting demand for independent verification and pressure to accelerate time to market, life science firms are relying on outsourced analytical testing labs with increasing frequency.”
“We expect to see a strong level of M&A activity in the highly fragmented pharmaceutical outsourcing industry in 2016,” added Mark Surowiak. “Responding to pricing pressures and the shift of development dollars from blockbusters to niche busters (medicines for smaller, targeted populations), drug manufacturers are seeking to reduce internal fixed costs and generate efficiencies by outsourcing a greater percentage of functions including R & D, clinical trial management, manufacturing and analytical testing. We expect to see further consolidation as players look to capitalize on the inherent growth in outsourcing and acquire firms to enhance their value proposition to clients by expanding service capabilities, geographic presence and technical expertise.”
