THE COMPANY

Headquartered in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, AMSBIO is a premier provider of life science products and services with expertise in biospecimens, stem cells and 3D cell culture, glycobiology and molecular biology, and an extensive product portfolio. AMSBIO supports manufacturers, academic groups and revenue-generating biotechs to develop innovative methods, processes, products and medicines globally.

Established in 1987, the company has international offices in Alkmaar (The Netherlands), and Cambridge (United States), and employs 32 people worldwide.

Europa Biosite is a leading European distributor of life science products, employing over 150 people with offices in Sweden, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. It is backed by Adelis Equity, a specialist in the healthcare sector that invested in the company in 2021

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CHALLENGE

Shaw & Co was appointed as an advisor after AMSBIO’s founder – Alex Sim – had begun to receive some initial interest from PE investors and trade buyers in both the US and Europe.

After analysing the initial enquiries, which included a substantial offer from a US company, we began a bespoke process where interested parties were whittled down in a rigorous pre-qualification round.

We also marketed the business across Europe and the USA in order to garner further interest. This provided us with yet more options which were entered into a fully competitive process.

A key tenet of Alex’s decision to sell the business was his desire to take a majority of his cash out of the business while staying with the company to propel its next stage of growth. It was therefore vital that any winning bidder met this criteria and was able to help AMSBIO continue its growth.

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OUTCOME

As well as enabling Alex to stay on with the business, the deal enabled Europa Biosite to further expand its life science offering, especially in the fast growing areas of biospecimens, stem cell research and regenerative medicine. It will also facilitate both product and customer collaboration between the two companies in Europe, while providing Europa Biosite, a business backed by Swedish investor Adelis Equity, access to the globally significant North American market.

Addleshaw Goddard LLP provided legal advice to major shareholder Alex Sim and AMSBIO on the deal.

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TESTIMONIAL

“We were in dialogue with several potential buyers and selected Europa Biosite due to it being the strongest partner to continue the growth and development of the company I founded 37 years ago. Europa Biosite has proven itself to be a leader within our industry, and we are eager to continue this journey together.”

Alex Sim, CEO & Co-Founder, AMSBIO