GHO Capital and management acquire Ardian majority stake in Envision Pharma Group to accelerate continued growth

Move set to advance Envision’s global ambition to be the leading strategic partner in medical affairs

London, UK, NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP, the European specialist investor in healthcare, together with the existing Envision management team and employees, have increased their investment in Envision Pharma Group (“Envision” or the “Company”), a leading technology-enabled scientific communications company.

The transaction sees GHO lead a consortium of its investors headed by Mubadala Investment Company, and including HarbourVest Partners and Northwestern Mutual to drive a new phase of growth, while Ardian exits its investment following a successful 4-year partnership with Envision and GHO.

Founded in 2001, Envision helps biopharmaceutical and medical device companies commercialize new compounds through medical strategy, strategic publications planning, and medical communications delivery. Its flagship technology iEnvision® – a global medical affairs platform, supports medical strategy, scientific communications internal/external research, and grant/request management activities to help pharmaceutical companies operate their businesses compliantly.

Over the last 19 years Envision has enjoyed outstanding year-on-year organic growth, with expansion supplemented via a number of key strategic acquisitions in medical strategy, Health Economics and Market Access (HEMA), and behavioral science-led communications. Consequently, Envision’s global reach now extends to Australia, Japan, Serbia, and Hungary, with the company employing over 800 people across 14 offices.

Having partnered with Envision for 4 years, GHO has a unique view of the business and its growth trajectory and is backing the management for continued expansion. Envision will pursue significant rollout of its iEnvision technology to widen its suite of platform solutions and strategic communications capabilities, and expects to see increased synergy between these two elements.

With acquisitions likely to play an important role toward facilitating the delivery of a deeper, more diversified service offering to global clients, Envision is set to enhance its position as the leading strategic medical affairs partner to the pharmaceutical industry.

David Thompson, CEO, Envision, said, “Having worked alongside GHO for 4 years, we are delighted they have chosen to extend and deepen the partnership in a new investment cycle. We see a clear commitment to expanding our reach across the healthcare services spectrum, most notably in medical affairs, with the ultimate goal of enhancing physicians’ abilities to improve patient outcomes.”

The Partners at GHO Capital commented, “We are delighted to continue our successful partnership with David and his management team. Envision is a company we know well and continue to believe in owing to its unique services and technology proposition. We look forward to supporting this ambitious team on their next phase of growth and in delivering Envision’s full potential as the go-to strategic partner in outsourced medical affairs, communications, and consulting services.”

Brian Hepburn, Co-Chairman and Founder, Envision, added, “For GHO Capital to take the majority shareholding in Envision speaks volumes in terms of its belief in our business and vision. We will be partnering with a team who already has a deep understanding of both the healthcare sector and our business, who know and respect the leadership team, and can positively contribute to our new 5-year business plan.”

Bruno Ladriere, Managing Director of Ardian Buyout in the UK, said, “Over the last 4 years, we have worked successfully with the Envision management and GHO to support the company’s growth, adding new service lines via acquisitions to increase the value brought to its clients. This first investment of our Buyout team in the UK has been a great success. We are confident the next phase of the Envision story will continue to demonstrate the company’s standing as the trusted partner of choice for medical affairs to the pharmaceutical industry.”

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About Envision Pharma Group
Founded in 2001, Envision Pharma Group is a global, innovative technology and scientific communications company serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies. Envision is a leading provider of evidence-based communication services and industry-leading technology solutions (iEnvision®) that have applicability across many areas of medical affairs and related functional responsibility. Envision Pharma Group provides services and technology solutions to more than 90 companies, including all of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies.

Envision has 14 offices: six in the United Kingdom – Bishop’s Stortford, Glasgow, Horsham, London (Battersea and Hammersmith), and Wilmslow; one in Serbia – Subotica; one in Hungary – Szeged; four in the United States – Fairfield and Glastonbury, CT, Philadelphia, PA, Warren, NJ; and two in the Asia-Pacific region – Tokyo and Sydney. The company employs around 800 team members, including over 250 highly qualified and experienced in-house medical writers, and 190 technology solutions team members who provide software development and customer support. To find out more, visit www.envisionpharmagroup.com.

For further information:

Marsha Caplin
Global Head of Marketing
Envision Pharma Group
Email: marsha.caplin@envisionpharmagroup.com
Tel: +44 (0)7557 083549

About GHO Capital
Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP, is a leading specialist healthcare investment advisor based in London. We apply global capabilities and perspectives to unlock high growth healthcare opportunities in Europe, building market leading businesses of strategic global value. Our proven investment track record reflects the unrivaled depth of our industry expertise and network. We partner with strong management teams to unlock value in a global system that demands the delivery of better, faster, more accessible healthcare. For further information, please visit www.ghocapital.com.

Further information:

Charles Cox
Investor Relations Director
GHO Capital Partners LLP
Email: IR@ghocapital.com
Tel: +44 20 3700 7440

About Ardian
Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$100bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate, and economic growth around the world.

Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 700 employees working from 15 offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco, and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo, and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 1000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Private Debt.

Further information:

Viktor Tsvetanov
Ardian/Headland
Email: VTsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.co.uk
Tel: +44 20 73435 7469