Two large, international healthcare investment firms announced their plans to merge on Wednesday.
The partners — London-based GHO Capital and Singapore-based CBC Group — said the deal will combine $21 billion in assets under management, creating what they call the “world’s largest dedicated healthcare investment firm.”
The new entity will employ more than 200 employees across 13 offices across North America, Asia and Europe. The firms noted that these regions make up about 90% of all healthcare research and development spending.
GHO invests primarily in healthcare services, pharma and medical technology across Europe and North America, while CBC has built a large investment platform spanning Asia’s biotech, life sciences and care delivery sectors.
Last fall, GHO closed its fourth fund, which totaled $2.9 billion and brought the firm’s total assets under management to $10.5 billion. CBC closed its most recent major fund — its fifth, which totaled $1.67 billion — in 2022. The firm has $10.8 billion in assets under management.
By combining their operations, the firms are aiming to create a more globally connected investment platform — which they said will help them back healthcare companies across multiple stages of growth and across major international markets.
Mike Mortimer, co-founder and managing director at GHO, and Fu Wei, founder and CEO of CBC, will serve as co-chief executives of the combined entity.
“The combination is about connecting leading healthcare companies and innovations with the world’s largest and most established markets and global pools of capital — by bringing together complementary strengths across Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe,” Wei said in a statement.
The deal is expected to close early next year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
The merger joins two huge investment firms at a time when private equity companies across the globe are pursuing larger platforms and wider geographic reach. As competition for deals intensifies and fundraising becomes more challenging, a lot of firms are looking to expand their scale and strengthen their presence across global private markets.
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