London and Staad, 1 November 2021 – KKR, a leading global investment firm, and Biosynth Carbosynth, a leading life sciences reagents, custom synthesis and manufacturing services company, announce today that KKR has agreed to acquire Biosynth Carbosynth from Armira and CEO Dr. Urs Spitz. Dr. Spitz and senior managers of the company will retain a significant ownership stake and will continue to lead the company as it embarks on its next chapter of growth. Financial details of the transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, were not disclosed.
Founded in 1966 in Switzerland, Biosynth Carbosynth is a vertically integrated business serving some of the world’s largest diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies. Armira partnered with Dr. Urs Spitz in 2014 to support the development of the company, which included making significant investments in both organic and inorganic growth initiatives, such as the acquisition and integration of Carbosynth in 2019. With the support of KKR, Biosynth Carbosynth plans to accelerate its geographic expansion, broaden its capability set, and expand its product portfolio, further establishing itself as a leader within its chosen markets.
“I would like to thank Armira for our trusting and very successful partnership over the last seven years. I am excited to welcome KKR as our future strategic partner as they have the industry experience, international network, and resources to help us realize our vision of becoming a global platform. KKR’s strategic partnership will enable us to continue to scale the business while retaining the best-in-class product quality, science-led focus, and industry-leading expertise for which our customers have come to know us,” commented Dr. Urs Spitz, CEO and President of Biosynth Carbosynth.
“Reliable, high-quality supply of critical reagents is central to the effective and safe development of diagnostics and therapeutics for the benefit of patients worldwide. We are excited to be working with Urs and Biosynth Carbosynth’s impressive management team, and believe that there is a significant opportunity to build Biosynth Carbosynth into a leading life sciences tools platform,” said Kugan Sathiyanandarajah, Managing Director at KKR and Head of Europe for KKR’s Health Care Strategic Growth strategy and Anuv Ratan, Principal at KKR.
Christian Ollig, Partner and Head of the DACH region at KKR, commented, “This strategic partnership with Biosynth Carbosynth is a fantastic addition to the KKR family, and another example of our strong footprint in the DACH region, our deep expertise in healthcare, and our ability to support family-owned businesses as they move into a new phase of development. Urs is a visionary leader who is highly regarded in Switzerland and beyond, and we are delighted to become part of the company’s exciting future.”
KKR is funding its investment through the firm’s Health Care Strategic Growth strategy, which is focused on investing in high-growth health care companies for which KKR can be a unique partner in helping companies reach scale. KKR has a history of building life sciences tools platforms, including Gamma Biosciences and LGC, as well as a long track record of supporting health care companies globally, having invested approximately $17 billion in the sector since 2004.
Since 1999, KKR has invested more than €11 billion in 29 companies in the DACH region, including more than €1.9 billion in Switzerland in investments including Scout24 Switzerland, SoftwareONE, and Galenica. KKR continues to see a strong pipeline of opportunities in Switzerland that fit KKR’s investment thesis: strategic partnership transactions with founders and families and carve-outs of innovative companies across sectors. For all the details please click here. |
