Carlyle and Veritas reportedly end talks on Cotiviti sale; BPOC finds opportunity in clinical research

Morning Hubsters!

This is Chris, on for Wire Wednesday. What are you seeing out there? Deal activity is slow, fundraising is tough, secondaries inventory is robust, though only select deals are getting done. What else?

Scrapped: Carlyle Group dropped plans to invest in healthcare analytics company Cotiviti after lining up $5.5 billion in debt and another $1 billion preferred stock to finance the deal, Financial Times is reporting today.

Veritas Capital, which owns Cotiviti, was looking to sell the company at a $15 billion valuation, the article said. Carlyle tried to lower the purchase price later in the process, and eventually the two firms ended talks, the FT said.

Speaking of a pulled deal, we have a story on Buyouts today that an emerging manager, Paceline Equity, decided to back off a plan to move a portfolio company from its debut fund, R.E.L.A.M., a railroad maintenance company, into a continuation fund.

The deal was pricing high in today’s environment, at around 101 percent of net asset value. However, as the market changed, the outlook for the company strengthened, and the company was able to complete a large add-on earlier this year using capital from co-investors, obviating the need for the secondary.

Clinical: BPOC, a Chicago private equity firm, is finding opportunity in clinical research as it builds out its platform Atlas Clinical Research, a therapeutically driven site network led by experienced pharmaceutical executive Mark Scullion.

“Clinical trials are becoming more complex and expensive, causing contract research organizations (CROs) and pharmaceutical sponsors to favor higher quality sites that have a track record of successfully enrolling patients in studies,” BPOC partner Troy Phillips told PE Hub reporter Obey Martin Manayiti.

“Pharmaceutical companies would prefer to contract for studies with fewer entities who can deliver quality and speed across numerous locations while still delivering on enrollment targets.”

As part of the investment, Atlas is forming a strategic partnership with Rochester Clinical Research, a New York-based site that has conducted more than 1,000 clinical trials involving 55,000 study volunteers. Rochester Clinical Research was founded by Patricia Larrabee in 1994 and operates out of a 25,000 square foot facility serving trial volunteers in Rochester, NY, and the surrounding five counties.

The company, which conducts trials across a variety of study topics including cardiovascular, gastroenterology, vaccines, mental health, pain and women’s healthcare, offers a long history of direct pharmaceutical sponsor relationships.

RCR will also bring its experience as an early adopter of innovative technology systems to efficiently deliver clinical trials, “which we will leverage as we build the site network,” explained Phillips.

The goal for Atlas is to have numerous sites across the US to expand access to clinical trials and increase the diversity of eligible populations, Phillips said.

Hire: Blue Owl Capital brought on ex-Goldman Sachs executive Chris Crampton to lead the firm’s push into GP-led continuation fund deals, including single-asset transactions, the firm said. Crampton formerly was a partner and head of services and industrials private equity investing within Goldman investment banking and asset management divisions.

That’s it for me! Have a great rest of the day. Reach me at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com or find me on LinkedIn.