Harris Williams Advises Velocity Clinical Research on its Sale to GHO Capital Partners LLP

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it advised Velocity Clinical Research (Velocity), a portfolio company of NaviMed Capital (NaviMed), on its sale to Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP (GHO). Velocity is a leading integrated site organization for clinical trials. The transaction was led by Paul Hepper, Nick Owens, Lucas Scholl, Katie Bowden and Jonathan Ferrell of the Harris Williams Healthcare & Life Sciences (HCLS) Group.

“Investor interest in clinical trial site platforms like Velocity remains robust, as the broader pharma services sector was highly resilient through COVID-19 and continues to benefit from outsourcing trends. Clinical trial site platforms perform the critical function of recruiting and retaining patients for pharmaceutical clinical trials, which speeds drug and vaccine time-to-market, proven out by the unprecedented effort achieved to complete large COVID-19 vaccine trials on a highly expedited timeline,” said Paul Hepper, a managing director at Harris Williams.

“Nothing better exemplifies the power of the Velocity platform than the efforts in 2020 to help develop a COVID-19 vaccine faster than anyone ever thought possible at the onset of COVID-19. It was a pleasure working with the Velocity team and NaviMed on this successful outcome, and we are excited to see what Velocity accomplishes under new ownership,” said Nick Owens, a director at Harris Williams.

“Harris Williams exceeded our expectations as a partner throughout the transaction. The team’s ability to share our story coupled with its industry experience and buyer relationships led to the most optimal outcome, and we look forward to continuing to build the Velocity platform with GHO,” said Paul Evans, CEO of Velocity.

Velocity, headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, is a leading integrated site organization for clinical trials, offering dedicated site capabilities to help biopharmaceutical and contract research organization customers find the right patients for their studies. The company has 16 sites across the United States. Velocity places the care of the patient at the heart of everything they do. With a combined experience of 250 years running sites and more than 5,000 studies completed, Velocity has refined its patient recruitment strategies while maintaining a focus on delivering timely and reliable data quality.

NaviMed is a Washington, D.C.-based private capital firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. NaviMed makes investments in fast growing lower middle market healthcare businesses. The firm focuses on healthcare services, healthcare IT, hospital products and pharmaceutical services businesses which NaviMed believes are poised to benefit from the reform and technology innovation forces reshaping the healthcare industry. NaviMed targets profitable private companies with up to $10 million of EBITDA and double-digit revenue growth. NaviMed seeks investments which it believes can benefit from its deep industry expertise, broad relationship network and the track record of success of its senior investment professionals as healthcare investors and operators. NaviMed’s senior investment team has a track record of value creation spanning, in the aggregate, dozens of investments and more than $11 billion of enterprise value created over the course of their combined careers.

GHO is a leading specialist healthcare investment advisor based in London. The company applies global capabilities and perspectives to unlock high growth healthcare opportunities in Europe and the U.S., building market leading businesses of strategic global value. GHO’s proven investment track record reflects the unrivalled depth of its industry expertise and network. GHO partners with strong management teams to unlock value in a global system that demands the delivery of better, faster, more accessible healthcare.

Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

The Harris Williams HCLS Group has experience across a broad range of sectors, including healthcare providers; payors and payor services; outsourced pharmaceutical services; medical device supply chain; healthcare IT; and pharmacy. For more information on the HCLS Group and other recent transactions, visit the HCLS Group’s section of the Harris Williams website.

Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschäftsführer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business.

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