Mubadala, other investors acquire majority stake in UK life sciences company Envision

Dubai: Abu Dhabi's Mubadala has added to its pharma interests, this time being part of an investor consortium that picked up a stake in Envision Pharma Group. Founded in 2001, Envision helps bio-pharmaceutical and medical device companies commercialize new compounds through medical strategy and communications.

"Envision is a company we know well and continue to believe in, owing to its unique services and technology proposition," said a statement issued by the investor group which was represented by Global Healthcare Opportunities (GHO). "We look forward to supporting this ambitious team on their next phase of growth and in delivering Envision’s full potential as the go-to strategic partner in outsourced medical affairs, communications, and consulting services.”

Entries and exits

The other investors include HarbourVest Partners and Northwestern Mutual. Meanwhile, another investor, Ardian, exited following a successful 4-year partnership with Envision and GHO. This is the stake that GHO and Envision management now own.

Brian Hepburn, Co-Chairman of Envision, said: “For GHO Capital to take the majority shareholding in Envision speaks volumes in terms of its belief in our business and vision. We will be partnering with a team who already has a deep understanding of both the healthcare sector and our business, who know and respect the leadership team, and can positively contribute to our new 5-year business plan.”

Envision’s reach now extends to Australia, Japan, Serbia, and Hungary, with the company employing over 800 people across 14 offices.

GHO has been partnering Envision for four years, and has a "unique view of the business and its growth trajectory and is backing the management for continued expansion". In the last 19 years, Envision's expansion was supplemented via acquisitions in the medical strategy, health economics and market access space. There have also been others in behavioral science-led communications.