Syneos Health Acquires Kinapse

RNS Number : 3004Y

HgCapital Trust PLC

20 August 2018

 

HG Capital Trust PLC

Hg, the Manager of HgCapital Trust plc ("the Company"), today announces the sale of Kinapse to Syneos Health, a leading biopharmaceutical solutions organisation.

Kinapse is a market leading advisory and operational solutions provider to the global life sciences industry.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Company, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, gives private and institutional investors the opportunity to participate in all Hg's investments.

This transaction values the Company's investment in Kinapse at approximately £7.9 million. This would represent an uplift of £3.1 million (65%) over the carrying value of £4.8 million in the Net Asset Value ("NAV") of the Company at 31 May 2018.

Note that these figures only relate to HgCapital Trust's share of Hg's overall investment in Kinapse.

Based on the 31 May 2018 NAV, the pro-forma NAV of HgCapital Trust would be £746.1 million (or 1,999.0 pence per share). The Company's liquid resources available for future deployment (after adjusting for all announced transactions) are estimated to be £191 million (26% of the pro-forma 31 May 2018 NAV). In addition, the Company has access to a £80 million standby facility, which is currently undrawn.

The investments within the Company's portfolio were last valued at 31 December 2017. The Company's 2018 interim results, including the re-valuation of the portfolio as at 30 June 2018, will be announced on 10 September 2018.

SYNEOS HEALTH™ ACQUIRES KINAPSE TO
FURTHER ENHANCE END-TO-END CAPABILITIES

Addition of Market Leading Advisory and Operational Solutions Provider Increases High-Value Offerings and Expands Operational Scale in Key Growth Markets

RALEIGH, N.C. - August 20, 2018 - Syneos Health, Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNH) ("Syneos Health" or "the Company"), a leading biopharmaceutical solutions organization, today announced the acquisition of Kinapse, a market leading advisory and operational solutions provider to the global life sciences industry, from Hg, a specialist investor based in the U.K.

Established in 2005, Kinapse delivers services across the clinical and commercial lifecycle, and will further enhance Syneos Health's ability to provide customers with end-to-end solutions to accelerate time to market. Kinapse's capabilities expand Syneos Health's regulatory, safety and pharmacovigilance consulting and operations in the post-market arena - outsourcing areas expected to experience double-digit growth. Additionally, the acquisition deepens the scale and scope of Syneos Health's clinical trial transparency, medical writing and quality operations and consulting capabilities in the areas of R&D and clinical operations, medical affairs, market access and quality and compliance. 

Kinapse works with small to mid and large biopharmaceutical companies - including many of the top 20 global biopharma companies - and has more than 600 employees across the United Kingdom, India and the United States. The acquisition increases Syneos Health's Asia Pacific operational and delivery capabilities and doubles the Company's consulting footprint in Europe. Kinapse operations will be integrated into Syneos Health's award-winning consulting business, a business which drives connections between Syneos Health's core clinical and commercial offerings to optimize product launch and commercialization results.

"As customers increasingly face risk, competition and rising development costs, the innovative, technology-enabled solutions provided by Kinapse are seeing increasing demand," said Alistair Macdonald, Chief Executive Officer of Syneos Health. "Through this combination we continue to inject new and enriched high-value solutions into the industry's only end-to-end offering, unlocking value for all of our biopharmaceutical customers. Additionally, with Kinapse's growth, recurring revenue streams and new cross-selling opportunities, we're poised to further strengthen our Commercial business by integrating their services into more comprehensive offerings."

"We've been following Syneos Health as the Company has forged a new model for accelerating therapies to market, and we look forward to adding further depth to its end-to-end offering. We see growth opportunities driven by the integration of our solutions and the ability to tap into Syneos Health's broad customer base," said Dawn Marriott-Sims, Executive Chairman of Kinapse. "On behalf of the Kinapse management team, I want to extend my thanks to our dedicated employees for their tireless work that has made this combination possible, as well as Hg, whose support as an investor has been transformational over the last several years."

Macdonald added, "This combination is an ideal strategic and cultural fit. We welcome the Kinapse team to the Syneos Health family and look forward to bringing more innovative services to our customers."

Syneos Health is funding the transaction through cash on hand. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The Company expects the transaction to be accretive to its earnings and remains committed to achieving a net leverage ratio of approximately three times by the end of 2019. The Company reaffirms the 2018 guidance range provided on August 2, 2018.

For further details:

Hg

Laura Dixon

[phone]

Maitland

Vikki Kosmalska and Seda Ambartsumian

[phone]

About HgCapital Trust plc

HgCapital Trust plc, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: HGT.L), gives investors exposure through a liquid vehicle to a portfolio of high-growth private companies in the technology and tech-enabled sector. The selection of new investments and creation of value in these businesses are managed by Hg, an experienced and well-resourced private equity firm with a long-term track record of delivering superior risk-adjusted returns for its investors. For further details, please see www.hgcapitaltrust.com.

The contents of the Hg, HgCapital Trust, Kinapse and Syneos Health's websites and any website accessible from hyperlinks on such websites (or any other website) are not incorporated into, and do not form part of, this announcement.

 

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