Kester Capital has acquired EMAS Pharma from Bionical Emas with strong growth expected from the clinical research organisation services market.
Private equity investor Kester Capital has acquired EMAS Pharma, the clinical development division of Bionical Emas, a global early access programs and clinical trial supply group.
Financial terms have not been disclosed.
EMAS Pharma is a specialised, full-service global clinical research organisation (CRO) that offers expertise across multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases, inflammation, immunology and microbiome therapeutics. EMAS has provided clinical trial services to biotech and pharmaceutical companies globally for more than 25 years,
“In selecting a buyer for EMAS Pharma, we wanted to ensure that the new owner would bring specialist CRO and broad clinical expertise to the management of clinical research services and the plans and resources needed to continue to service our existing customer base and further develop the business,” says Tom Watson, chief executive of Bionical Emas.
The global CRO services market is expected to grow at more than 9% a year from £64 billion in 2024 to £139 billion (USD $175 billion) by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights.
Kester Capital is a long-standing life science services investor. Founded in 2012, the London-based firm typically invests less than £15 million. The company has focused this year on developing its market access consulting services to the biopharma sector. Most recently, in November, it moved into Germany with the acquisition of SKC, a Germany-based provider of market access consulting services, and in May acquired Benelux-based AxTalis. Both of those acquisitions were made via its Cambridge-based portfolio company MAP Patient Access.
