PE to buy CDMO Avid Bioservices for $1.1 billion

The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, will see GHO and Ampersand take ownership of Avid at a price of $1.1 billion. The $12.50 cost per share represents a 22% premium on the company’s average share price over the past 20 days.

The addition of Avid Bioservices, which spun out from biopharma firm Peregrine Pharmaceuticals as a standalone contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in 2018, is the latest move into the life sciences outsourcing space by the two private equity (PE) firms.

GHO boasts CDMOs Alacami, RoslinCT, Ardena, and Sterling Pharma Solutions within its life sciences portfolio.

“As experienced CDMO industry investors, GHO brings deep expertise and experience to support Avid's management team going forward,” Alan MacKay and Mike Mortimer, managing partners said in a statement. “Our mission at GHO is to make healthcare better, faster, and more accessible and at the heart of this is enabling efficient, high-quality manufacturing of innovative treatments. Avid exemplifies this perfectly – the Company operates in high-growth markets, producing complex biologics for leading pharmaceutical and biotech innovators at both the clinical and commercial stages.”

They also highlighted Avid’s recent capacity investments as an example of this and a driver for future growth. The CDMO has two GMP biologics facilities in Tustin, California and a viral vector development and manufacturing plant in nearby Costa Mesa, all of which have seen significant expansions over the past few years.

Ampersand, meanwhile, has invested heavily in numerous contract manufacturers and pharma services firms, including Alcami (as well), Vibalogics and Arranta Bio (both now part of Recipharm, also in Ampersand’s portfolio), and cell and gene therapy company Genezen. Previously, the firm funded gene therapy CDMO Brammer Bio, which it sold to Thermo Fisher for $1.7 billion in 2019.

“Avid has long been a trusted provider of biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing services, and we have tremendous respect for its team’s expertise, its broad spectrum of customized services and its strong regulatory track record,” said David Anderson, general partner of Ampersand.

Avid’s CEO Nick Green said that the acquisition “allows us to build on our strong foundation by accessing their significant knowledge base, network and capital to position the business for the future with our customers.”