Carlyle invests in Chinese pharma industry supplier

The private equity firm invested via its flagship Asia fund which closed earlier this year at $6.5 billion. The seller, healthcare specialist fund manager MVM Partners, will retain a significant interest in the company.

Founded in 2007, Ambio provides support services related to contract development and the manufacturing of ingredients used in drugs approved by US, European and Chinese medical authorities. The company also participates in the development of new drugs and maintains a staff of more than 400 people at manufacturing sites in China and the US.

"We believe that Carlyle's experience and global network will help us forge new partnerships to capture the surging demand for our services," Chris Bai, chairman and founder of Ambio, said in a statement. "We are also excited that Carlyle Asia team's strong local connections will help expedite our growth strategies in China."

According to Eric Bednarski, a partner at MVM, Ambio has increased its revenue more than 350% since November 2014 and is now "highly profitable." The company's technical specialization, which focuses on services around peptide biologics, is considered a growth area within pharmaceuticals, in part due to advantages related to the chemical diversity of the molecules.

Carlyle had invested more than $11.5 billion of equity in more than 65 transactions in the global healthcare industry as of June 2018, including about $1.5 billion in 10 healthcare companies in Asia. In China, biotech investment has been supported by a number of policy liberalizations and rising demand for new drugs.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• North America
• Expansion
• Healthcare
• USA
• China
• The Carlyle Group
• Pharmaceuticals
• Growth capital