Warburg Pincus has agreed to acquire microbiology and life science company Hygiena, a maker of rapid hygiene monitoring systems, environmental collection systems and rapid dilution devices.
Hygiena’s monitoring systems can test – in as little as fifteen seconds – whether a sample contains adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule used by organisms to transfer chemical energy between cells. The presence of ATP indicates bio-contamination of the sample. The company sells its products to the beverage and food processing, industrial and manufacturing, healthcare and life science, food service, leisure and hospitality, environmental monitoring, and government and education industries. Hygiena was founded in 2001 by Fred and Susan Nason and is led by CEO Steve Nason. The company is headquartered near Los Angeles in Camarillo, CA (www.hygiena.com).
“The Hygiena management team has built an excellent business, with simple and convenient solutions that address critical needs in food and life sciences end markets,” said Stephanie Geveda, a Managing Director of Warburg Pincus. “We look forward to working with Steve Nason and investing in the organization and its employees to build on Hygiena’s history of success to enhance and expand their offerings in these dynamic and growing markets,”
Warburg Pincus has more than $40 billion in assets under management and has raised 15 private equity funds since its founding in 1966. In November 2015, the firm reached a final close of Warburg Pincus Private Equity XII, LP at the hard cap of $12 billion. Warburg Pincus is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo and Shanghai (www.warburgpincus.com).
“Under Steve Nason’s leadership, Hygiena is an exciting starting point to build a market-leading business in the food and life sciences testing and environmental sanitation industry,” said Jim Neary, Managing Director and Co-Head of Industrial and Business Services at Warburg Pincus.
Debt financing for the transaction will be provided by Antares Capital (www.antares.com), Ares Management (www.aresmgmt.com) and Varagon Capital (www.varagon.com).
Houlihan Lokey (www.HL.com) was the financial advisor to Hygiena and Greenberg Traurig (www.gtlaw.com) provided legal counsel.
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 7-21-16
