UDG Healthcare has bought KnowledgePoint360’s healthcare communications business.
The deal, agreed at a total cash consideration of $144m (€105m/ £86.3m), is expected to complete by the end of March 2014, and financed by existing cash facilities.
Knowledgepoint360’s healthcare communications business will sit within UDG Healthcare’s existing global healthcare communications offering, its Ashfield division, and the company hopes the acquisition will enable further expansion in the US, Europe and beyond.
“We are delighted to make this announcement,” said Liam FitzGerald, chief executive of UDG Healthcare.
“KnowledgePoint360 is a significant strategic and complementary acquisition for UDG Healthcare, giving us a market leading position in the global healthcare communications sector and significantly enhancing the Ashfield offering to our clients.”
Expansion in healthcare communications and related business areas is a key part of the company’s global growth strategy, FitzGerald underlined.
Chris Corbin, managing director UDG Healthcare’s Ashfield division, told PMLiVE: “This acquisition strengthens two of our areas of expertise, healthcare communications and healthcare meetings and events.”
“Following the completion of the deal we will embark on a business review of our combined capabilities to ensure we maximise the benefits of this acquisition for our businesses, our clients, as well as all our staff,” he added.
“While we complete the deal, and throughout the business review, it is very much ‘business as usual’ for both the Ashfield division and KnowledgePoint360.”
UDG Healthcare provides services to healthcare manufacturers and pharmacies, with operations in 22 countries including the US, UK, Ireland and Germany. It operates across three divisions: Ashfield Commercial and Medical Services, Supply Chain Services and Sharp Packaging Services.
The KnowledgePoint360 healthcare communications business is headquartered in Macclesfield in the UK and in Lyndhurst, New Jersey in the US, with more than 600 staff across 10 global locations.