Global CRO Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI) has acquired all the outstanding equity interests of Whitehouse Laboratories, a provider of testing services that includes chemical and material analysis, method development and validation, and quality-control verification services to the pharmaceutical, medical device and personal care industries. Total consideration is $54 million in cash, and an additional $2 million in shares of AMRI common stock contingent upon Whitehouse Labs achieving certain 2015 targets.
Whitehouse Labs, based in Lebanon, N.J., operates a highly regarded analytical and testing business with 2015 estimated revenue of $11 million and 2015 estimated adjusted EBITDA of $6 million, implying a purchase price multiple of nine times 2015 adjusted EBITDA. Whitehouse Labs will continue to operate independently within AMRI’s DDS segment. Adjusted EBITDA excludes any deal related costs or purchase accounting impacts.
Whitehouse Labs offers a comprehensive array of testing solutions for life sciences from materials and excipients, container qualification and container closure integrity testing, routine analytical chemistry, drug delivery systems and device qualification programs, packaging, distribution, and stability and storage programs.
Increased government regulation and complexity of testing, combined with mounting demand for independent verification and pressure to reduce fixed laboratory costs are all factors that are increasing the trend for outsourced analytical services. Specifically, new industry protocols for container closure integrity testing (CCIT), conducted in lieu of sterility testing as a component of the stability protocol for sterile products, have been proposed by the FDA.
Whitehouse Labs offers state-of-the-art solutions, including in-depth method development and validation, and is believed to be the only outsourced provider housing all of the major modern leak detection technologies in one facility. Its scientists are recognized thought leaders in container closure integrity testing and currently are working with the FDA on improving the knowledge and effectiveness of CCIT guidelines.
The transaction was signed and closed simultaneously. AMRI financed the transaction with cash on hand and borrowings under its $30 million revolving credit facility.
