AMRI fetches $922M in the latest CRO private equity buyout

There’s another private equity deal to report on from the CRO front.

Albany, NY-based AMRI $AMRI announced Tuesday morning that it is being bought out for $922 million by The Carlyle Group and GTCR.

The buyout comes at $21.75 per share, which is a weighted average of 60 days trading ahead of the first reports about the brewing deal that first emerged on April 5th.

There have been a string of CRO buyouts and mergers over the past few years, with many of these deals aimed at consolidating a globally fractured industry as drug developers large and small look to outside contractors to do much of the heavy lifting.

Just weeks ago  INC and inVentiv announced a major merger.

Dean Mihas

“We strongly believe in AMRI’s strategic direction and have been very impressed with management’s ability to transform the business into a trusted partner for the biopharma industry,” said Dean Mihas, managing director and head of the healthcare group for GTCR, in a prepared statement.  “We believe AMRI is uniquely positioned to capitalize on an increased trend for outsourcing of pharmaceutical products and services and look forward to partnering with the AMRI team to achieve its strategic objectives and drive value for all of AMRI’s stakeholders.”