Thermo Fisher Scientific agrees to acquire Wilmington-based PPD in $17.4 billion deal
By WECT Staff | April 14, 2021 at 5:04 PM EDT – Updated April 15 at 12:21 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Pharmaceutical giant Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has agreed to acquire Wilmington-based PPD for a total cash purchase price of $17.4 billion.
Thermo Fisher announced Thursday that the companies’ boards of directors approved the agreement.
Thermo Fisher also will assume approximately $3.5 billion of net debt.
“Pharma and Biotech is our largest and fastest growing end market, and our customers value us as a strategic partner and an industry leader. The acquisition of PPD is a natural extension for Thermo Fisher and will enable us to provide these customers with important clinical research services and partner with them in new and exciting ways as they move a scientific idea to an approved medicine quickly, reliably and cost effectively,” said Marc N. Casper, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Longer term, we plan to continue to invest in and connect the capabilities across the combined company to further help our customers accelerate innovation and drive productivity, while driving further value for our shareholders.”
PPD, a leading global pharmaceutical research organization, employs over 26,000 people worldwide and is one of the largest employers in New Hanover County. In 2020, PPD generated revenue of $4.7 billion.
“This is a very exciting announcement for our shareholders and will provide customers with an even better opportunity to bring meaningful innovation to the market faster and more efficiently,” said David Simmons, PPD chairman and chief executive officer. “Thermo Fisher is a world-class company with a very similar culture and values and will provide a great foundation for our colleagues to continue to deliver for our customers and to develop their own skills and careers.”
The company filed paperwork in 2019 to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange and raised $1.6 billion as part of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in early 2020.
PPD was founded in 1985 by Fred Eshelman, who relocated the company’s operations to Wilmington in 1986.
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