inVentiv Health, a global professional services organization designed to help the biopharmaceutical industry accelerate the delivery of much-needed therapies to market, has closed its previously announced transaction agreement with Advent International. Advent is one of the largest global private equity investors with extensive healthcare sector expertise.

Advent joins Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (THL) as an equal equity owner of inVentiv Health and its equity investment in inVentiv Health values the company at $3.8 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

inVentiv Health provides comprehensive and integrated clinical and commercial outsourcing services to the biopharmaceutical industry. The company’s unique business model, combining a leading CRO with the industry’s first contract commercial organization (CCO), helps clients improve performance and expedites the delivery of innovative products to market. The inVentiv Health client portfolio includes all 20 of the largest global biopharmaceutical companies. The company has helped to develop or commercialize 80% of all new drugs approved by the FDA and 70% approved by the EMA over the last five years. Under THL’s ownership, inVentiv Health more than doubled both revenue and adjusted EBITDA to $2.2 billion and $343 million, respectively.

Michael Bell, chairman and chief executive officer of inVentiv Health, said, “With the backing of two of the most renowned private equity firms, inVentiv Health now has the enhanced resources to continue to realize our impressive growth plans. By leveraging Advent and THL’s deep operational and sector-specific expertise, we’ll continue to evolve our comprehensive clinical and commercial service offerings. Our purpose is to accelerate the development and delivery of therapies for our global biopharmaceutical client base.”

"inVentiv Health’s combined CRO and CCO business model creates a competitive edge that has propelled the company to become a leader in the biopharmaceutical outsourcing industry,” said John Maldonado, a managing director at Advent. “We’re excited to be partnering with THL and the exceptional management team at inVentiv Health. We’re committed to providing the company with tools, resources and best practices that will enable inVentiv Health to achieve continued success.”

"Since our initial investment, inVentiv Health has experienced significant growth and developed into a world-class professional services firm,” said Joshua Nelson, managing director of THL. "We’re thrilled to be partnering with Advent as they share our enthusiasm about the tremendous potential for the business. We look forward to working with Advent, and inVentiv’s 15,000 employees, to advance solutions to address some of the healthcare industry’s most pressing problems.”

This investment is consistent with Advent’s strategy of investing in healthcare companies with strong growth potential to create value for its stakeholders. Advent has a long track record of investing in the healthcare sector, completing more than 35 investments in 14 countries in the last 26 years.