BOSTON– Decision Resources Group, a Burlington, MA-based patient-centric commercial strategies company headed by Vivek Sharma and owned by India-based Piramal Group, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Clarivate Analytics for $950 million, Clarivate Analytics said in a statement.
“I am excited for this acquisition as it creates an even more powerful platform for DRG’s AI and analytics-enabled solutions to support our customers in their quest to improve patient health outcomes,” Mr. Sharma, CEO of Decision Resources Group (DRG), said in the statement. “This new and expanded platform will further empower our employees to continue their focus on customer centricity and collaborative innovation with our customers.”
Clarivate Analytics said Mr. Sharma will depart the company following the completion of the transaction, when the business will join the Science Group at Clarivate Analytics, under the stewardship of Mukhtar Ahmed, President–Science Group. This Product Group includes both the Cortellis suite of Life Science intelligence solutions and Web of Science, the world’s largest publisher-neutral citation index and research intelligence platform.
Based in London and Philadelphia, PA, Clarivate Analytics is a global leader in providing insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation. The company said that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire DRG from Piramal Enterprises Limited, part of global business conglomerate Piramal Group.
The $950 million purchase price–approximately 12x trailing DRG Adjusted EBITDA, taking into account acquisition cost synergies but not revenue synergies–includes $900 million in cash and approximately $50 million in Clarivate ordinary shares to be issued following the one-year anniversary of closing, the statement said. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Clarivate earnings in 2020.
DRG specializes in enabling the world’s leading pharma, biotech and medical technology companies to achieve commercial success in complex health markets with the creation of effective patient-centric commercial strategies.
“Together, DRG and Clarivate will be well-positioned in the $19 billion Life Sciences analytics market, which currently is enjoying double-digit growth, to support customers across the entire drug, device and medical technology lifecycle from research to outcome. The combined business will offer a one-stop shop for Life Sciences customers, helping them to improve the commercialization of life-changing therapies,” the statement said.
Jerre Stead, Executive Chairman and CEO, Clarivate Analytics, said: “This is a milestone acquisition which doubles the size of our Life Sciences business, is accretive to our 2020 earnings, and sets us up to become an essential, end-to-end, industry-leading data and analytics provider to the highly attractive Life Sciences ecosystem. We expect the acquisition of DRG to increase Clarivate’s total company revenue by 20%, deliver approximately $77 million in annual Adjusted EBITDA before the pursuit of any revenue synergies, and drive DRG’s Adjusted EBITDA margins towards Clarivate’s total company target of greater than 40%.
“Both companies have a great heritage–built on talented people with deep industry subject matter and technical expertise. Together, we look forward to unlocking the tremendous potential of a unified team.”
Ajay Piramal, Chairman Piramal Group added: “We are pleased to have grown DRG’s market leadership over the last few years and believe that through this combination, Clarivate, with its size and scale, is well positioned to further accelerate DRG’s growth potential. This transaction demonstrates our continued commitment to create sustained long-term value for all stakeholders.
“Along with the ongoing equity capital raise in PEL, this transaction not only further strengthens the company’s balance sheet but also marks another step towards significantly unlocking value in future.”
Mukhtar Ahmed, President, Science Group, Clarivate Analytics, said: “The addition of DRG’s services and solutions to our portfolio supports our focus on creating exceptional customer value through delivering highly specialized analytics and expert insights and a wider range of Life Sciences solutions that help solve our customers’ most difficult challenges when discovering, developing and commercializing new drugs, medical devices and technologies. The acquisition also means that by combining expertise, data and technologies, Clarivate will be able to pursue significant growth opportunities through new product development and deeper market penetration driven by offering our customers a broader portfolio of tools and services.”
