GED Group completed one of its largest operations in Spain through the exit of the biotech investee Vitro S.A.” – one of the most important Spanish companies in the production and distribution of In-Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Platforms and Reagents, and related services products such as Pathology, Molecular Biology, Cytometry, Clinical Chemistry, Software with applications in the Healthcare industry and Laboratory Instruments.
The investee has been present in the market for over 30 years with offices in Spain and Portugal (Seville, Madrid, Granada, Lisbon) and has more than 2000 customers in over 30 countries. The investment made by GED accomplished returns, for the Fund's investors, greater than 4x the amount invested with an IRR of 38%. This operation had the support of Lazard, Garrigues, KPMG, KWM e Fairview Capital Group.
With the sale of this second investee, around 77% of the Fund's capital was returned and it is expected that with the sale of the third investee more than the totality of the Fund's capital will be returned. The proceeds from the sale of the remaining four investees translates into capital gains for investors.
The divestment operation took place in two phases, firstly with the sale of Cytognos, focused on Flow Cytometry, to the American Becton Dickinson and then the transfer of other Vitro's divisions to a new investment vehicle - GED Strategic Partnerships I (GED SPI) led by prestigious international investors such as Glendower Capital (division of CVC), Newbury Partners, Headway Capital Partners, and Argentum.
GED is actively present in Boston and Silicon Valley, providing its investees with legal, human and sales support, promoting and enhancing international expansion. These companies get the total support of the management team to syndicate future rounds of financing with North American private equity funds.