Evli Corporate Finance is pleased to announce that it advised Keensight Capital, one of the leading European Growth Buyout firms, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Biovian, a leading European biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing and development organization (CDmO). Keensight Capital invested alongside the founders and management of Biovian, and Edmond de Rothschild Equity Strategies (ERES) funds. EQT Credit was the sole lender and provided a unitranche facility to back the acquisition. The transaction was closed on May 31, 2018. Based in Finland, Biovian is a one-stop-shop GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) CDmO of biopharmaceuticals providing manufacturing and development services from early stage to finished product. The company offers its expertise and state-of the art technologies for clients in many therapeutic areas including immuno-oncology, gene therapy and vaccine development. Biovian provides services to about 30 customers including international biotechs and biopharma companies from the UK, EU, US and South Korea. Biovian has 70 employees and aims to double revenue and staff over the next 5 years. Keensight Capital and the ERES funds will support the Biovian management team to: Increase capacities, both in the complex microbial development space and in the booming viral vector and gene therapy market; Expand and further internationalize its current client base; and Further extend the one-stop-shop concept and reinforce its services portfolio to support its clients over additional stages of their products’ life cycle.
