Elephant Capital plc, a London AIM market listed private equity firm, has invested £8 million (Rs 58 crore) in ClinTec International, a global clinical research organisation (CRO), for acquiring 28.8% stake.
The investment will be made through Elephant Capital's Mauritian subsidiary, Tusk Investments Fund 1. Gaurav Burman, Managing Partner of Elephant Capital LLP and James Hauslein, Non-Executive Director of Elephant Capital will make additional personal co-investments of £150,000 (Rs 1 crore) and £200,000 (Rs 1.4 crore), respectively.
Elephant Capital has appointed three directors--Gaurav Burman, Dr Anand Burman and Jim Hauslein--to a total of seven on the board at ClinTec. Dr Anand Burman is the chairman of Dabur.
ClinTec operates as a global provider of outsourcing solutions addressing the drug development lifecycle. Over the past decade, spending on the contracting out of clinical services has been growing at a CAGR of 13.4%, reflecting pharmaceutical companies' efforts to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.
Elephant Capital will leverage their substantial network in India and internationally, to aid the further expansion of ClinTec operations in India. The partnership will also facilitate expansion into the Asia Pacific region with ClinTec's long established Bangalore office serving as the regional hub for clinical research activity, stated a ClinTec release.
Gaurav Burman said, in the filing, "We are looking forward to a long-term partnership with ClinTec International and building on all that has been achieved to date. As well as bringing to ClinTec, our immense expertise in finance and creating corporate global organisations, we look to preserve the fine values and unique culture of ClinTec which has made it such a well respected and successful global organisation".
In June, Elephant Capital had led a £4 million (around Rs 27.4 crore) round in Amar Chitra Katha Pvt Ltd (ACK), a Mumbai-based children’s book company. Elephant Capital had put in £3.2 million (about Rs 22 crore) in ACK, while its co-investment vehicle will put another £0.5 million (about Rs 3.43 crore). Gaurav Burman also invested another £0.3 million (about Rs 2.01 crore) in his personal capacity.
Elephant Capital (formerly known as Promethean India Plc) which handles $98-million fund made seven investments so far across hospitality, automotive, education, building materials, mobile banking services and online media and broadcasting.
President and CEO, ClinTec, Rabinder Buttar commented, “As the pharmaceutical and biotech industry shifts its drug development efforts to the emerging markets, ClinTec will partner with its clients in a flexible way, exactly aligning its services and operations to fit with the needs of its clients. We value the strategic input of Elephant, the Burman family and their wealth of experience in Dabur, as well as the extensive experience of our US Board Director, James Hauslein. With a new global Board in place and hugely committed employees in every continent, we are very optimistic about the continued strong growth of ClinTec ahead."
ClinTec has a presence in over 40 developed and emerging countries, covering Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Central and South Africa, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the US.