Thermo Fisher Scientific to Buy PPD
Posted on 04/15/2021
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) agreed to acquire PPD (Nasdaq: PPD), a Wilmington, N.C.-based contract research organization, for around US$ 17.4 billion in cash. PPD recently went public and was backed by Hellman and Friedman LLC, Carlyle Group, GIC Private Limited, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Thermo Fisher will acquire PPD for US$ 47.50 per share for a total cash purchase price of US$ 17.4 billion plus the assumption of approximately US$ 3.5 billion of net debt. This represents a premium of approximately 24% to the unaffected closing price of PPD’s common stock on the Nasdaq as of Tuesday, April 13, 2021, or 32% to the 60-day VWAP inclusive of that date. Upon close of the transaction, PPD will become part of Thermo Fisher’s Laboratory Products and Services Segment.
PPD provides a broad range of clinical research and laboratory services to enable customers to accelerate innovation and increase drug development productivity.
Thermo Fisher has obtained committed bridge financing with respect to a portion of the purchase price. To fund the transaction, Thermo Fisher intends to use proceeds from debt financing and cash on hand.
Advisors
Barclays Capital, Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are serving as financial advisors to Thermo Fisher, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP are serving as legal counsel. For PPD, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor, while Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal counsel.
PPD stood for Pharmaceutical Product Development.
