Blackstone and CPPIB to make majority investment in Advarra

• Bloomberg has previously estimated the deal’s value at about $5 billion though financial terms were not disclosed
• Blackstone is investing in Advarra through its core strategy, which invests in companies for longer periods than traditional private equity
• Genstar Capital acquired Advarra in 2019

Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have signed an agreement to make a majority investment in life sciences company Advarra. The investment includes significant continued investment from Genstar Capital and Linden Capital Partners, current shareholders and management. Genstar acquired Advarra in 2019. Blackstone is investing in Advarra via its core private equity strategy which invests in companies for longer periods than traditional private equity.

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. Investing globally and across sectors including real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds.

Blackstone closed its second long-life fund, Blackstone Core Equity Partners II, in 2020 at $8.2 billion.

Anushka Sunder, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said, ‘We are proud to back Advarra given its important role in enabling high-quality clinical R&D and helping its clients bring life-changing treatments to patients. Sustained innovation and scientific advancement in life sciences is one of our highest conviction investment themes across Blackstone.’

Advarra is a provider of regulatory, quality, and compliance solutions and clinical trial technologies. It advances life sciences research by enabling safe, ethical, and compliant clinical trials and providing core workflow technology to support the development of life-saving therapies.

CPPIB is Canada’s largest pension fund, investing on behalf of Canada Pension Plan, the country’s public retirement system. It invests globally across equities, private equity, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. As of March 31, 2022, the fund totalled C$539 billion ($420 billion).

David Golde, Managing Director at Genstar Capital comments ‘Since our acquisition in 2019, Gadi and the Advarra team have transformed the business into a leading provider of workflow solutions to make clinical trials safer, more efficient, and ultimately, more successful. It has been a pleasure driving this transformation with the Advarra team, and the company is on a very exciting trajectory to further its mission supporting the life sciences industry and the patients it serves.’