Triangle’s Worldwide Clinical Trials is latest health services firm to be sold

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK –  Triangle based Worldwide Clinical Trials, which has touted itself in the past as the “cure for the common CRO,” is being sold. It’s the latest life science services firm known as a contract research organization with Triangle roots to be sold.

The privately held company’s management team and an affiliate of private equity firm Kohlberg & Company are buying Worldwide from current owner TJC, also a private equity company.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal, which is expected to close before the end of the year, comes amid M&As rolling through the CRO industry, with several located in the Triangle or having a major presence here.

A growing market

For instance, CRO Syneos is going private in a deal valued at more than $7 billion.

And two years ago, Thermo Fisher acquired Wilmington-based PPD (it had a big RTP presence) and ICON bought PRA Health Sciences.

M&As are changing the face of the CRO industry with a record 50+ deals in 2021. Triangle-based Velocity Clinical has been among the M&A leaders since then even as deal making fell off in 2022.

Recently Labcorp spun off Triangle-based Fortrea.

Global CRO services market is projected to total $188.52 billion by 2030 from $82 billion this year, according to Fortune Business Insights.

The status of Worldwide

Worldwide currently has more than 3,200 employees spread across almost 60 countries. It focuses on bioanalytical lab services, Phase I-IV clinical trials, and addresses cardiovascular, metabolic, neuroscience, oncology, and rare diseases.

“Over the past few years, we’ve been on a growth journey at Worldwide driven by a deliberate strategy centered on deep scientific expertise and aligned with industry trends and customer needs – one that sets us apart from others in our space,” said Peter Benton, Co-CEO of Worldwide, in a statement. “Our team members and their trusted customer relationships are the driving force behind our success, and I thank our partners at TJC for their many years of support helping us build to where we are today. We are thrilled to team up with Kohlberg, who brings us considerable depth of experience across the full continuum of outsourced pharma services, and I look forward to the next phase of our growth journey and continuing to help our customers bring new life-changing medications and treatments to patients around the world.”

Kohlberg’s managing partner Matt Jennings will become chair of the Worldwide board.

Read the full announcement at:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230807535276/en/Kohlberg-signs-a-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-majority-stake-in-Worldwide-Clinical-Trials

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