Genstar Capital, a private equity firm focused on the healthcare, software, financial services and industrial technology industries, has announced the sale of ERT, a provider of high-quality patient data collection solutions for use in clinical drug development, to Nordic Capital Fund VIII.

Genstar acquired ERT in 2012 for approximately $400 million in a take-private transaction.  Since then, Genstar's investment professionals implemented significant enhancements to reposition the business, accelerate growth, and build a world-class management team. Genstar invested resources and capital in ERT, including the acquisitions of invivodata, eClinical Insights and PHT,  that complemented substantial internal investments in people and technology to create the most comprehensive solution for patient endpoint collection and analytics for global clinical trials.

"ERT was a strong company when we acquired it, yet to make it even stronger we built upon its robust internal software and data capabilities and successfully completed three transformative acquisitions," said Roman Margolin, principal of Genstar. "We also were able to recruit a number of exceptional leaders to the company, including Jim Corrigan as CEO. Combined with meaningful growth initiatives developed in concert with Jim and his management team, sales for ERT were dramatically enhanced and the company is extremely well positioned to continue as a trusted partner to a diverse customer base of top pharma and biotech companies and major CROs."

Corrigan, CEO of ERT, said, "Genstar had a deep understanding of ERT's markets, mission, and value, and their strategic guidance contributed greatly to our ongoing growth and development.  As a result, we are better positioned to continue improving the productivity of the drug development process, reduce the risk of failure and innovate better health. ERT has supported over 50% of all new drug approvals in the past three years and we remain committed to providing solutions which are transformational and will benefit the global studies in which we are involved."

Jean-Pierre L. Conte, chairman and managing director of Genstar, said, "First of all, I want to thank ERT's CEO Jim Corriganand the entire management team for their tireless hard work in achieving this result. We are very pleased with the successful outcome of this investment which was achieved in large part by our ability to drive change in a sector in which we have deep industry expertise. In the most competitive private equity environment ever, Genstar's investment strategy continues to produce superior returns. Going forward, we remain committed to the healthcare sector where we see exciting opportunities to apply change initiatives that create industry leaders."

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and closing approvals and is expected to be completed in the second quarter.