Biologics CDMO Avid Bioservices to go private with $1.1B sale to Ampersand, GHO Capital

Just days after laying out $90 million to acquire Nektar Therapeutics’ Alabama manufacturing plant, Ampersand Capital Partners is pulling out its life sciences checkbook once again.

This week, biologics CDMO Avid Bioservices revealed that it’s agreed to be acquired by funds managed by Ampersand and British healthcare investment firm GHO Capital Partners in an all-cash deal worth $1.1 billion.

Under the deal, which is expected to close in 2025’s first quarter, Ampersand and GHO are slated to acquire all outstanding shares from Avid’s stockholders for $12.50 a pop, representing a 13.8% premium to the CDMO’s previous closing price.

The proposed transaction was unanimously approved by Avid’s board of directors, the company said in a release Wednesday. Once the deal closes, Avid will continue to operate under the same name, though its stock will no longer be listed publicly.

“After years of investment and expansion, now is the right time to move forward as a private company with new owners that will support our next phase,” Avid’s CEO, Nick Green, said in a statement. “In evaluating this transaction, our Board considered a range of alternatives and determined that it provides our stockholders significant, immediate and certain cash value for their shares.”

Meanwhile, Alan MacKay and Mike Mortimer, who serve as managing partners at GHO, said they were attracted to Avid thanks to the CDMO’s presence in high-growth markets and its established relationships with “leading pharmaceutical and biotech innovators at both the clinical and commercial stages.”

“Avid’s recent investments, both in capacity and its exemplary team, position it strongly for future growth,” MacKay and Mortimer added.

Back in July, Avid reported total revenues of $139.9 million for its 2024 fiscal year that ended April 30. That sales haul was down 6% versus the $149.3 million the company generated over the same prior-year period. Avid attributed the decline to fewer manufacturing runs and a reduction in process development services from early-stage programs, among other issues.

At the same time, the company reported an 8% revenue jump in its fourth quarter to $43 million. With those results in mind, the company outlined expectations to reach sales between $160 million and $168 million in fiscal year 2025.

Avid’s full-year sales reveal also coincided with the completion of a three-year construction program, which the company said in July could take its revenue capacity from approximately $120 million annually in fiscal 2021 to more than $400 million per year.

Over that stretch, Avid wrapped up two expansions within its mammalian cell facilities and completed the build-out and launch of new production suites at its cell and gene therapy plant.

The new 53,000-square-foot cell and gene facility is designed to support early-stage development through commercial manufacturing and is located in Orange County, California, just five miles from Avid’s mammalian development and manufacturing operations.

As for Ampersand, the Avid deal marks the private equity firm’s second major life sciences outlay this week.

Monday, Nektar said it would sell its manufacturing plant and reagent supply business in Huntsville, Alabama, to Ampersand for a total value of $90 million.

Under the agreement, Nektar is slated to receive $70 million in cash plus a $20 million equity position in a new Ampersand portfolio company that will leverage the biotech’s 124,000-square-foot, commercial-scale PEGylated therapeutics facility.