Dowden Health Media, a portfolio company of High Road Capital Partners, has completed the acquisition of QD Healthcare Group, a provider of medical communications.
QD Healthcare Group provides scientific content development, promotional medical education and related marketing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The company was founded in 1999 by Nick Kiratsous and Bradley Mock and is located in Stamford, CT (www.qdhealthcare.com).
With the closing of the QD Healthcare Group acquisition, Dowden Health Media has separated into two platform companies, Dowden Medical Communications Group (DMCG) and BlueSpire Strategic Marketing. High Road Capital Partners maintains a controlling interest in both new companies. “DMCG and BlueSpire serve distinct, attractive markets and have independent strategies for growth that will be accelerated by the separation of their business operations,” said Jeffrey Goodrich, a High Road Partner.
Dowden Medical Communications Group provides scientific content development, promotional medical education and related marketing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The company has three operating subsidiaries: Medical Decision Point (www.medicaldecisionpoint.com); Convergent Health Solutions (www.convergent-health.com); and eCrossings Media (www.ecrossingsmedia.com). Dowden Medical is headquartered in Montvale, NJ (www.dowdenhealth.com).
BlueSpire Strategic Marketing provides healthcare and financial marketing services to organizations nationwide. Services include strategy development, content marketing, custom publishing, email marketing, website design and development, social media marketing and search engine optimization. BlueSpire was formed through the combination of Dowden Custom Media and Priority Integrated Marketing, which Dowden Health Media acquired in June 2011. BlueSpire is based in Minneapolis (www.bluespiremarketing.com).
“The acquisition of QD Healthcare addresses a core component of DMCG’s growth strategy by providing scientific expertise and services that are complementary with our content and meeting management services but are employed earlier in the pharma marketing and lifecycle management process,” said Jim Hughes, President of DMCG.
High Road Capital Partners invests in manufacturing, service, or value-added distribution businesses with revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA’s of $3 million to $10 million. High Road was formed in 2007 and currently manages over $150 million of committed capital. High Road has completed 18 transactions – eight platform investments and ten add-on acquisitions – for its debut fund, High Road Capital Partners Fund I, LP. The firm is based in New York, NY (www.highroadcap.com).
Working on the transaction from High Road were Partner Jeffrey Goodrich, Principal Ben Schnakenberg, and Associate Paul Langley. Financing for the transaction was provided by Fifth Third Bank. Investment bank DeSilva + Phillips advised QD Healthcare Group in this transaction.
© 2012 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-19-12