According to Catalyst Corporate Finance — the UK business of Alantra, an adviser to the healthcare sector — UK service-based pharma businesses involved in ‘smart’ areas of the market are experiencing heightened interest from domestic and international acquirers.
New deals
Even though we are still in the infancy of the year, there has already been three acquisitions in the drug discovery space, revealed Catalyst. Most recently, Spectris acquiring Manchester-based Concept Life Sciences in order to expand its testing services and capitalise on growth opportunities in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors. This deal follows Charles River's acquisition of UK-based KWS Biotest and Eurofins' acquisition of UK CRO Selcia.