H.I.G. Capital Completes Acquisition of Celerion

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#Acquisition--H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global investment firm with $52 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has completed the acquisition of Celerion Holdings, Inc. (“Celerion” or the “Company”), a leading full-service provider of outsourced clinical research services to the pharmaceutical industry.

Headquartered in Lincoln, NE, Celerion is a leading global clinical research organization focused on providing end-to-end early stage clinical trial and bioanalytical services to a diverse group of customers. The Company’s offering includes clinical trial design, patient recruitment, clinical site management, bioanalytical testing, and data management. Celerion has locations in the United States, Canada, Austria, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Susan Thornton, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Celerion commented, “We are excited to enter into this new chapter of growth with H.I.G. Celerion is one of the most experienced and successful CROs globally, with expertise in early stage drug development solutions that has resulted in strong growth since the Company’s inception. We look forward to partnering with H.I.G., who brings significant experience and resources in the pharmaceutical sector, and continuing to provide industry leading customer service."

Mike Gallagher, Managing Director at H.I.G., added, “We are excited to partner with Susan and her exceptional management team. We identified Celerion as a best-in-class provider of early stage clinical research services globally, playing a critical role in helping sponsors bring life-saving medications to market as quickly and as safely as possible. We believe Celerion is well-positioned for continued growth, given its dedication to the most rigorous quality and performance standards.”

H.I.G.’s investment in Celerion adds to its active pharma services portfolio, which comprises a broad spectrum across clinical research, contract manufacturing and development organizations and specialty pharmaceutical companies. Other recent H.I.G. pharma services investments include Aspire Pharma, BioVectra, Leiters, Navitas Life Sciences, Rising Pharmaceuticals and Taconic BioSciences.

Rothschild & Co. Inc. acted as financial advisor and McDermott Will & Emery LLP served as legal counsel to H.I.G. Lazard and Harris Williams acted as financial advisors and Winston & Strawn LLP served as legal counsel to Celerion.

About Celerion

Celerion is a clinical research organization that provides comprehensive clinical trial solutions to pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients conducting early clinical research throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The Company serves its clients through a global network of facilities and provides first-in-human to proof-of-concept studies as well as bioanalytical laboratory services, data management and biometrics, and drug development services. For more information, visit https://www.celerion.com/.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global alternative assets investment firm with $52 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
4. H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.

Mike Gallagher
Managing Director
mgallagher@higcapital.com

Michael Kuritzky
Principal
mkuritzky@higcapital.com

Alex Zisson
Managing Director
azisson@higcapital.com