Overview

On June 6, 2019, Genstar Capital announced that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Advarra from Linden Capital Partners.

Advarra, formed through the 2017 merger of Schulman IRB and Chesapeake IRB, is a leading provider of institutional review board (IRB), institutional biosafety committee (IBC), and research quality and compliance services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and contract research organizations, as well as academic medical centers, hospital systems, and investigative site networks. The Company’s combination of regulatory expertise and innovative technology offers a unique platform for ensuring protection of clinical trial participants.

Genstar Capital is a San Francisco based private equity firm with approximately $17 billion of AUM. Genstar focuses on investments in the healthcare, software, industrial technology, and financial services industries.

Significance

Through this acquisition, Advarra gains a partner with a long history of growing successful customer-centric pharma services companies, which will further enable the Company to expand upon its mission of providing high-quality services to its clients as they navigate complex regulatory frameworks.

Crosstree’s Role

Crosstree assisted in validating Genstar’s investment thesis through the development of discrete investment scenarios, each of which contained market opportunity analyses, organic and inorganic strategies, and investment outcome profiles. Through concise articulation of organic and inorganic opportunities, financial modelling, and thoughtful alignment of industry trends, Crosstree was able to collaborate with Genstar, its operating advisors, and its other outside consultants, to develop a compelling growth narrative.

Crosstree was the financial advisor to Genstar.