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Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has partnered with non-public fairness to take a minority stake in Klick Well being, valuing the healthcare advertising company that labored on this yr’s Tremendous Bowl business for Aspirin at nearly $2.5bn.
Beneath the phrases of the deal, GIC, one of many world’s greatest institutional buyers, and healthcare-focused non-public fairness group Linden Capital Companions will purchase out a minority stake owned by rival agency GTCR, two individuals briefed on the matter mentioned. Klick’s two Canadian co-founders will retain a controlling shareholding within the firm.
The settlement is the most recent in a string of personal equity-backed healthcare offers, which has confirmed to be a busy sector for mergers and acquisition exercise this yr regardless of a wider slowdown in mid-market non-public fairness transactions.
GIC and Chicago-based Linden’s deal values the Toronto-based enterprise at almost $2.5bn, or round 18 occasions earnings, which quantity to greater than $130mn a yr, the individuals mentioned. Klick confirmed the minority stake sale to the Monetary Instances after being approached for remark.
Based in 1997, Klick has helped a big roster of drugmakers together with pharmaceutical group Bayer and biotech Biohaven develop launch methods and advertising campaigns for brand new medicines. Most just lately, Klick labored on Bayer’s Tremendous Bowl TV business for aspirin, which aimed to handle denial amongst Gen Xers and millennials over coronary heart illness.
Regardless of the highest US well being official Robert F Kennedy Jr’s expressed want to ban pharmaceutical promoting and the chaos he has created throughout the Meals and Drug Administration, the US medicines regulator, non-public equity-backed firms serving the pharmaceutical business have been a preferred goal for offers.
Earlier this yr, Siemens purchased analysis and improvement software program maker Dotmatics from non-public fairness group Perception Companions for $5.1bn. Personal fairness group New Mountain Capital in April struck a $3.1bn change of management deal for Actual Chemistry, one other healthcare advertising group, which introduced in Coller Capital as the most important shareholder.
GIC, which has about $800bn of belongings below administration, and Linden, which has $12.5bn of belongings below administration, are among the many buyers which have continued to be aggressive within the healthcare sector. The exit additionally marks yet one more win for GTCR, which earlier this yr agreed to promote its majority stake in Worldpay to World Funds after proudly owning it for lower than two years.
Within the first half of this yr, there have been a complete of $67bn of healthcare offers within the Americas area, up from $58bn value of offers within the second half of 2024. That’s down, although, on the $99bn of offers within the first half of that yr, in response to a PwC evaluation of LSEG information.
