Apax in Marken buy-out

A consortium comprising funds advised by Apax Partners and company management has reached agreement to acquire Marken, a company specialising in clinical trial logistics, for an undisclosed sum from Intermediate Capital Group. The transaction is subject to the relevant anti-trust clearances and is expected to complete in early 2010.

Healthcare is one of the five sectors in which Apax Partners focuses exclusively. Significant recent investments by the Apax Partners Healthcare team include: General Healthcare Group (the largest private hospital group in the UK), Capio (a leading pan-European hospital group), Unilabs (a leading European clinical laboratory business), Apollo (India’s largest private hospital group), Trizetto (a leading healthcare IT company in the US) and Qualitest (the 6th largest generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in the US).

Khawar Mann, partner and global co-head of the Apax Healthcare team, commented: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to back Marken and its excellent management team. Marken is a world leader in providing clinical logistics services to the biopharma industry, and its top quality offering means that it is poised for substantial growth as the industry continues the process of globalisation. Apax Partners’ considerable expertise in healthcare and our global network means we are the natural partners to assist Marken in the next phase of its growth.”