North American Pharma & Life Sciences M&A Update – November 2009

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Momentum in M&A activity continued through November in the North American Pharma & Life Sciences sector with 23 announced transactions this month.

There were a total of nine cross-border deals driven by European-based companies acquiring North American targets. In contrast, North American companies invested in Japan, China and Switzerland.

Canadian companies were involved in three deals: Ondine Biopharma’s acquisition of Advanced Photodynamic Technologies; Nucryst Pharmaceutical’s sale of its Canadian assets to Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Management; and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s acquisition of IMS Health in partnership with US-based private equity firm TPG Capital.

Private equity firms participated in six transactions—three in the services subsector, two in the medical devices subsector, and one in the drug development subsector. Four of the transactions were private equity disposals and two were new investments in market-leading companies.

On a subsector basis, activity was fairly even. There were 9 (or 39%) transactions in medical devices, up sharply from last month, which saw only one transaction. Drug development companies and service providers accounted for six (or 26%) and eight (or 35%) of November’s transactions, respectively.