Specialist global Contract Research Organisation (CRO), Phlexglobal has today announced it has completed a private equity-backed management buyout (MBO).  

The deal with mid-market private equity investor, Inflexion Private Equity, will allow the company to further expand its provision of clinical trial support, a significant part of which is the management of global trial master files (TMF), both paper and electronic. The recent launch of version 3 of PhlexEview, the company's eTMF solution, will underpin this growth.  

The Phlexglobal management team remains largely the same with Phlexglobal's former financial director, Stella Donoghue, moving into the role of managing director and Karen Redding remaining as global business development manager. They will be joined by technical director, John Lazenby and Sarah Tucker, who has been internally appointed as director of eTMF operations.  

To further strengthen the existing Phlexglobal management team, former managing director for Wyeth Laboratories (UK and Ireland), Kevin James, has joined Phlexglobal as its new chairman. Kevin commented: "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the eTMF uptake will follow that trend set by electronic data capture (EDC), which is now used for the majority of clinical trials. Phlexglobal, with its unique software and service model, will remain at the forefront of this evolving part of the market." 

Kevin has more than 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience and while at Wyeth, the UK Affiliate played a pivotal role in clinical research and development of regulatory strategy within the EU market. After leaving Wyeth Kevin has spent five years in the private equity market and is also currently chairman of Rosemont Pharmaceuticals.  

The new Phlexglobal board will consist of Stella Donoghue, Karen Redding and Kevin James. They will be joined by Richard Swann and Nicola Boyd from Inflexion as non executive directors.

 Richard Swann, investment director at Inflexion, commented: "Phlexglobal operates in an interesting niche market and is an excellent example of the type of business that Inflexion seeks to invest in, offering a superior service and product to its customers. We look forward to working with the experienced management team to drive further growth in the company." 

Jamie Austin, M&A Partner at BDO LLP, who advised the vendors of Phlexglobal on the deal, commented: "This is a good deal for both buyer and seller and demonstrates that there is private equity money available for strong businesses with the potential for growth. This is particularly true of businesses in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector - as supported by the 2011 BDO Private Equity Survey. This deal will allow Phlexglobal to continue its next phase of planned expansion and support technical advances across in the industry." 

Today's announcement comes only a month ahead of the opening of Phlexglobal's second US office in Philadelphia which coupled with the MBO will provide a valuable platform for the company to move into new markets including Asia-Pacific, while still maintaining its strong presence in the UK and North America. 

Phlexglobal is a specialist global CRO which delivers unique clinical research support solutions to meet its clients' needs through its five core services of resourcing, task force, clinical support services, eTMF & document solutions and training. It works across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, CRO and healthcare industries and counts 17 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies amongst its clients.  

For more information on Phlexglobal's range of services visit www.phlexglobal.com.