When Nicusa Capital called for BioClinica's CEO to resign in 2010, it thought the company might be an attractive takeover target for a bigger eClinical or imaging business. Instead, BioClinica took a private equity buyout and set about becoming a big player itself. This week the process continued, with BioClinica following up last year's swallowing of CoreLab by merging with CCBR-Synarc.
The merger expands the range of medical imaging services BioClinica can offer while also moving it into new areas, notably clinical trial services and patient recruitment. While still a public company BioClinica was criticized, particularly by Nicusa Capital, for expanding beyond its core imaging business, but it has continued to branch out since going private. Each of the deals inked by private equity owner JLL Partners has strengthened the imaging business as well, though.
In the latest deal, BioClinica will gain imaging expertise from Synarc and broader clinical trial assets from CCBR, which offers data management, patient recruitment and other services. The deal comes one year after private equity group JLL Partners moved to buy BioClinica and merge it with another imaging business, CoreLab.
CoreLab owner Ampersand Capital Partners kept a stake in the combined business; a similar scenario has played out with CCBR-Synarc. The companies are merging their capabilities, but Water Street, which invested in CCBR-Synarc in April, will share ownership of the resulting company, Outsourcing-Pharma reports. CCBR-Synarc is itself the product of a merger: In 2006, clinical trial service provider CCBR joined with imaging specialist Synarc.
- here's the BioClinica release
- read Outsourcing-Pharma's article