New England Peptide, a portfolio company of Ampersand Capital Partners since October 2019, has acquired Peptides International.
A peptide is a chain of no more than 50 amino acids and they have the same structure as proteins which are composed of chains of hundreds to thousands of amino acids. Simply, a peptide is the scientific word for a small piece of protein and peptides are widely used to study how proteins function in the human body. Manufacturers of peptides can alter their design to increase or decrease their functionalities according to the needs of the end-user.
Peptides International (PI) manufactures and distributes catalog and custom peptides, enzyme substrates and inhibitors, polymers and other related products which are sold to pharmaceutical, biotech, life sciences, and research companies.
The business, led by CEO Jackie Spatola, was founded in 1983 and has a 12,000 square foot facility and headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Ampersand Capital’s acquisition of PI enables high-quality custom peptide market development, which fortifies our 35-year-old company’s world leader strategy and position,” said Ms. Spatola. “We look forward to offering even better services to our worldwide customer base through working with New England Peptide.”
New England Peptide (NEP) designs and manufactures peptide and antibody solutions that are sold to pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, research universities and hospitals. The company specializes in custom peptide synthesis, polyclonal antibody production, stable-labeled bioanalytical peptide standards, and catalog peptide products. NEP, led by founder and CEO Sam Massoni, was founded in 1998 and has a 25,000 square foot facility and headquarters in Gardner, Massachusetts.
“Whereas New England Peptide has a leading position in manufacturing thousands of small-scale peptides and antibody-related services, Peptides International is best known for making larger-scale quantities of high-quality custom peptides and for maintaining a unique catalog of off-the-shelf products,” said José de Chastonay, chairman of the NEP board of directors. “The combination of the two companies creates a comprehensive, “one-stop-shop” for non-GMP peptides.”
“Ampersand’s goal with our original investment in New England Peptide earlier this year was to build a world-class leader in peptide synthesis services, and this transaction furthers that goal,” said Eric Lev, a partner at Ampersand. “Ampersand looks forward to working with the management team in the next phase of organic and inorganic growth as the company strives to provide industry-leading peptide solutions to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and academic markets.”
Ampersand makes majority or minority equity investments of $10 million to $50 million in healthcare-related companies that have from $10 million to $100 million of revenue. Ampersand is typically the first institutional investor in founder-owned businesses. Sectors of specific interest within healthcare include laboratory services; laboratory products; contract manufacturing; pharmaceutical services; specialty pharmaceuticals; and healthcare services. Ampersand was founded in 1988 and is based in the Boston suburb of Wellesley, Massachusetts.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | December 17, 2019
