Alantra advises Republic M! on its MBO backed by Queen’s Park Equity

May 2022

Sell-side advisory

10 May 2022: Alantra, the global investment banking firm, has advised on the management buy-out of Republic M! (“RM!”), which has been backed by Queen’s Park Equity. RM! is a specialist provider of outsourced commercialisation services to the pharmaceutical industry. The business delivers digital & omnichannel engagement with healthcare professionals (“HCPs”) across its three key service offerings of Remote Detailing, Virtual Events and Multi-Channel Manager Software.

Founded in 2004 in the Netherlands, RM! has grown its presence across the UK, DACH and Benelux regions, as well as internationally, to become a market leading digital omnichannel execution and software specialist, maximising behavioural change on behalf of its global pharma and biotech clients who span more than 60 countries globally.

By partnering with QPE, management will continue to expand relationships with pharma clients as well as enhance RM!’s cross-sell capabilities. RM!’s highly scalable business model, strong existing global pharma relationships and reputation will support this accelerated growth in new and existing markets.

Alantra’s Healthcare team was appointed due to its significant experience in the medical communications and broader pharma services sector. The team’s role encompassed advising the shareholders on the strategic options available, introducing potential partners (including QPE), designing the deal structure and pricing, and managing the process through to completion.

This transaction further underlines Alantra’s expertise in medical communications and consulting. Recent activity includes advising Strategic North on its sale to Prescient Healthcare Group and 90TEN on its sale to Envision Pharma; Prescient Healthcare Group and Helios on investment from Bridgepoint Development Capital and NorthEdge, respectively; and Bridgepoint on its acquisition of Fishawack Health.

Anthony Harrington, Partner at Alantra, led the deal, supported by Matt Kumeta, Vice President, and Tom Tett, Associate.

Anthony Harrington commented, “We are delighted to have been selected to work for the RM! team on this transaction. This is our seventh completed transaction in medical communications in the last two years alone, significantly more than any other advisory firm. This transaction manifested a number of wider trends we are seeing in the sector – including heightened interest from both private equity and strategic acquirers – which we expect to continue into the future.”

Nick Lavery, CEO of Republic M!, said, “The QPE investment gives us great opportunity to grow the business further by combining the UK, DACH and Benelux and international businesses to form the Republic M! Group. We were guided through the process by the Alantra team who gave great advice, were very proactive and helped make sense of each step to deliver a successful conclusion.”