SWEDESBORO, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wedgewood
Pharmacy has signed a definitive purchase agreement with Partners
Group, on behalf of its clients, which will replace New
Harbor Capital as its majority shareholder after the transaction closes in
2021. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Marcy A. Bliss, CEO of Wedgewood
Pharmacy, said: “While we have achieved excellent results under New Harbor’s
ownership, we are very excited to collaborate with Partners Group going forward.
They are deeply experienced professionals who have extensive healthcare and
animal-health experience. A new board of directors will infuse fresh ideas and
fresh capital to support our team to fully realize our goals. We have ambitious
plans to continue to respond to veterinarians and the needs of their patients.
The types of investments will include:
New product development, ensuring access to backordered medications, as well
as personalized medicine to treat our most vulnerable (and finicky) animal
patients. Process and technology improvements that make Wedgewood Pharmacy the
easiest to do business with. Increased production at our FDA-registered 503B
Outsourcing Facility to ensure adequate availability of medication for office
use. Logistics and operational investments that will speed delivery of
medication to patients and prescribers.”
Chris Russell, Managing Director, Partners Group, added: “Partners Group
takes a thematic approach to investing, and Wedgewood Pharmacy's model of caring
for animal patients through the provision of specialty healthcare fits well
within this framework. We pursue resilient, growing businesses benefiting from
transformative trends, including the elevated importance of pets in our
families. We look forward to working with Wedgewood Pharmacy on building further
value in the business on behalf of all its stakeholders.”
Lincoln International LLC led the transaction for Wedgewood Pharmacy, with
Reed Smith LLP and RSM International acting as advisors to the company. Ropes &
Gray LLP and KPMG International Limited acted as advisors to Partners Group.
About Wedgewood Pharmacy
Wedgewood Pharmacy is the largest compounding pharmacy devoted to animal
health in the U.S. Compounding is the long-established tradition in pharmacy
practice that enables practitioners to prescribe and patients to take medicines
that are specially prepared by pharmacists to meet patients' individual needs. A
growing number of patients have unique health and compliance needs that
off-the-shelf prescription medicines cannot meet. For them, customized,
compounded medications prescribed or ordered by licensed physicians or
veterinarians and prepared safely by trained, licensed compounding pharmacists
and pharmacy technicians are the only way to better health.
Compounded medications are created and prepared in state-regulated pharmacies
when mass-manufactured drugs are not, according to a prescriber, available or
are not appropriate for a patient. Wedgewood Pharmacy’s 503B Outsourcing
Facility, Wedgewood Connect, compounds medications under FDA’s modified cGMP
standards.
Today’s Wedgewood Pharmacy grew from a local community pharmacy to become one
of the largest compounding pharmacies in the United States. It is the leading
pharmacy brand in animal health, recognized by 99% of veterinarians, and used by
8 in 10 veterinarians within the past year. It also prepares compounded
medications for the human-health medical specialties of Addiction Medicine,
Urology, and Ophthalmology. The company serves more than 50,000 prescribers and
hundreds of thousands of patients throughout the U.S. every year.
George (late) and Lucy Malmberg, both pharmacists, purchased Wedgewood
Pharmacy in 1981, the year after the pharmacy opened. In June 2016, New Harbor
Capital became the majority shareholder of the company. In 2018, the company
acquired Diamondback Drugs. In 2020, the company purchased and began production
at Wedgewood Connect, an FDA-registered 503B Outsourcing Facility, in San Jose,
California. In the same year, the company acquired Wildlife Pharmaceuticals and
ZooPharm, in Colorado and Wyoming, respectively. In early 2021, New Harbor
Capital will complete the sale of its majority interest in the company to
Partners Group.
Wedgewood Pharmacy is accredited by the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation
Board (PCAB®) for compliance with PCAB and other nationally recognized
compounding standards. PCAB was formed by eight of the nation’s leading pharmacy
associations and is a service of Accreditation Commission for Health Care. As a
third-party accreditation organization, PCAB has developed the highest national
standards against which providers are measured to demonstrate their ability to
effectively and efficiently deliver quality compounded medications to consumers.
Wedgewood Pharmacy employs more than 700 people.
About Partners Group
Partners Group is a leading global private-markets investment manager. Since
1996, the firm has invested more than USD 135 billion in private equity, private
real estate, private debt, and private infrastructure on behalf of its clients
globally. Partners Group is a committed, responsible investor and aims to create
broad stakeholder impact through its active ownership and development of growing
businesses, attractive real estate, and essential infrastructure. With more than
USD 96 billion in assets under management as of 30 June 2020, Partners Group
serves a broad range of institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, family
offices, and private individuals globally. The firm employs more than 1,500
diverse professionals across 20 offices worldwide and has regional headquarters
in Baar-Zug, Switzerland; Denver, USA; and Singapore. It has been listed on the
SIX Swiss Exchange since 2006 (symbol: PGHN). For more information, please
visit http://www.partnersgroup.com or
follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Partners Group's private equity business has an established track record of
investing in leading businesses with development potential to generate
attractive returns for its clients. With entrepreneurial governance at the heart
of its approach, Partners Group’s private-equity business aims to build
high-performing boards and works together with management teams on targeted
value creation initiatives. These enable long-term, sustainable growth to the
benefit of all stakeholders. Partners Group's private-equity business has
directly invested in more than 240 businesses since inception and today has USD
45 billion in assets under management.
Contacts
Company | Marcy A. Bliss | Chief Executive Officer |
MBliss@wedgewoodpharmacy.com |
856-832-1303
PR Firm | David Kirk |
DavidKirk@thePRguy.com | 480-270-9631
Partners Group | Clare Burrows |
clare.burrows@partnersgroup.com | 212-908-2708