CRO

PPD to go public once again

Major CRO player Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) is set to go back on the public markets after announcing its IPO plans.

The CRO went private all the way back in 2011 when it was bought by Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman in a $3.9 billion deal. Two years ago, it recapitalized, with the owners expanding the company’s ownership to include two new investors: a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and an affiliate of GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.

This valued the company at around $9 billion.

Now, PPD says it “has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of the parent company’s common stock.”

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Pricing and shares offering have not yet been shared, but the CRO said it “expects to use the proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of indebtedness.”

This is a reverse of rival Parexel, which had been public until 2017 when it was bought out for $5 billion and taken private.