Global investment manager Blackstone has agreed terms to acquire clinical trials provider Nucleus Network from Australian private equity firm Crescent Capital. Blackstone head of private equity for Australia, James Carnegie, said the investment would sit as part of the firm’s private equity portfolio. Nucleus Network is Australia’s largest provider of phase-one clinical trials, with facilities in Melbourne, Brisbane and Minneapolis.
Crescent is exiting Nucleus after three years. It bought into the business in 2018, and began shopping it around in July this year. It recruited Morgan Stanley for the sale and was expecting a $600 million payday, Street Talk previously reported.
Nucleus Network was understood to have been pitched as a $40 million a year business, in terms of forecast EBITDA. Crescent’s asking price was understood to be in the 15 to 20 times EBITDA range.
Read more/Source: Financial Review
