PRA Health Sciences Inc. has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO). No terms were given but the total amount for the offering is up to $375 million. The company plans to file on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol PRAH.
The joint book-running managers are Jefferies, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, KKR, UBS Investment Bank and Wells Fargo. Co-managers are Baird and William Blair. Investment funds affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR) own some 93,660,000 shares worth 99.14% of the total outstanding shares prior to the offering. PRA International was purchased for $1.3 billion by KKR in 2013. Its combination with ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services (RPS) created the fourth largest company of its kind at the time.
PRA is a contract research organization (CRO). It provides outsourced clinical development services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries globally. The company has therapeutic expertise in oncology, the central nervous system, inflammation and infectious diseases. The global clinical development platform includes more than 75 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, South Africa, Australia and the Middle East, with more than 10,000 employees worldwide. Since 2000, the company has performed approximately 2,300 clinical trials worldwide.
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In the first six months of 2014, PRA derived 20% of its service revenue from small to midsized pharmaceutical companies, 26% of the service revenue from large biotechnology companies and 14% of the service revenue from emerging biotechnology companies.
In September 2013, PRA completed the acquisition of RPS, a global CRO that provides clinical development services primarily to large pharmaceutical companies.
The company plans to build a reputation as a strategic partner of choice for biotechnology and small to midsized pharmaceutical companies. The acquisition of RPS expanded relationships with large pharmaceutical companies, which represented 40% of the service revenue for the six months ending in June 2014. This also includes all the top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies.
PRA intends to use the proceeds from this offering to redeem $150 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes for an amount equal to 109.5% of their face value, plus accrued and unpaid interest up to an unspecified amount.
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