inVentiv Buys PharmaNet

inVentiv Health, Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire PharmaNet Development Group, Inc. from private equity owner JLL Partners. The transaction is expected to close by June 30, 2011. Financial terms were not disclosed. JLL bought PharmaNet in 2009.

In January 2011, inVentiv acquired i3, another CRO. After both of those deals close, inVentiv will have 13,000 employees across three divisions: Clinical, Commercial and Consulting. More than 6,000 employees will be in clinical research worldwide, and inVentiv will have presence in nearly 40 countries. The Clinical business will account for approximately $900 million of inVentiv’s pro forma $1.7 billion in annual revenues.

“One of our key strategic objectives is to be recognized as the leader in every segment where we serve our clients,” said Paul Meister, chief executive officer of inVentiv Health. “The acquisition of PharmaNet positions us among the top global CROs, increasing our capabilities, adding new expertise in every phase of clinical development, and strengthening our impressive client base and strong management team.”

An inVentiv spokesman toldContract Pharmathat the core value of the trasnaction is to achieve greater scale, thus only limited redundancies are expected after PharmaNet is integrated.

Jeffrey P. McMullen, president and chief executive officer of PharmaNet, said, “Our team is fully committed to continuing to grow our business and executing on the future opportunities that this combined offering provides to both our customers and employees.” Mr. McMullen will lead inVentiv’s CRO businesses. He noted that he chose to work with inVentiv because “the organizations share the same client-centric approach and strong therapeutic expertise in oncology, rheumatology and neuroscience, as well as in clinical technologies.”

Ramsey A. Frank, a partner of JLL, said, “We are very proud of the significant accomplishments that PharmaNet has achieved. We have worked in close partnership with the company’s management team to drive operational efficiencies, outstanding new business momentum and the highest EBITDA levels in the company’s history.”