Avista Capital Partners Prepares to Divest United BioSource

Avista Capital Partners (Avista) is preparing to sell United BioSource Corporation (UBC), PE Hub reported. Avista acquired UBC in 2017 from Express Scripts.

UBC, founded in 2003, is a market leader in providing integrated, comprehensive clinical, safety, and commercialization services. UBC brings together renowned scientific research and operations experts with leading-edge technologies, allowing for the best patient and healthcare provider experience. 

Comprehensive, end-to-end services cover product and patient population characterization during development and market entry, as well as a focus on the patient experience, safety, and adherence. 

Express Scripts, in 2017, divested UBC to Avista Capital Partners. UBC was acquired by Medco Health Solutions in 2010, and then that PBM was acquired by Express Scripts in 2012. A year later, Express Scripts sold parts of UBC to Symphony Technology Group. 

Founded in 2005, Avista Capital Partners is a private equity firm headquartered in New York, New York. The firm invests in healthcare companies. The firm focuses on mid-sized companies concentrated in the healthcare sectors like pharmaceuticals, medical devices, outsourced pharmaceutical services, distribution, and consumer-driven healthcare.

Patrick Lindsay, CEO of United BioSource was recently interviewed by Smart Business Dealmakers speaking about the growth of UBC by acquisition in which he stated, “As a company that has been built through M&A, and has brought together a lot of smaller ventures through the process, Lindsay says it was important to determine the interest of ownership ahead of a process — for example, are they looking for an exit, a partnership with a larger company to grow the business, etc.?”

Generally, when United BioSource looks out into the market, it’s not focused on the exit. Instead, it’s trying to determine where the market is going. What it finds will help the company decide whether it should acquire a company to help it achieve the innovation it thinks will help patients, the company’s core focus, or if it should just build the innovation itself. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to look at things that make sense for what you’re trying to accomplish,” he says.

Takeaway: United BioSource now finds itself on the other side of the table in the merger and acquisition process

Source: Smart Business Dealmakers; United BioSource’s Patrick Lindsay Focuses on the Interests of Ownership in an M&A Process; By Adam Burroughs; On January 15, 2021