The same global buyout groups that recently competed for TPG Capital's Singapore-based Novotech are expected to line up for Blackstone Inc.'s (NYSE:BX) clinical trials business Nucleus Network (Nucleus Network Ltd.), as Goldman Sachs runs the sale process. US private equity firm Kohlberg and Company (Kohlberg & Company, L.L.C.), Bain Capital (Bain Capital, LP), Advent International (Advent International, L.P.) and EQT (EQT AB (publ) (OM:EQT)) are among those expected to assess the $1 billion-plus Australian business. The quarter were among parties that looked at Novotech, which operates in Australia, before GIC and Temasek signed a deal in March last year to buy a stake in that business, ending its sale process.
EQT's potential interest in Nucleus Network would be particularly notable given it owns contract research organisation Parexel, which also carries out clinical trials. Goldman Sachs' investment arm was EQT's co-investor when the pair bought Parexel for USD 8.5 billion including debt in 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. Other CROs that could emerge as potential buyers include Syneos Health (Syneos Health, Inc.), owned by Elliott Investment Management.
Blackstone purchased Nucleus Network from Crescent Capital in 2021 for about $700 million and has significantly grown earnings since. Morgan Stanley ran that sale process, with the business then generating about $40 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
