Kneat Solutions, the Limerick-headquartered software company listed in Toronto, has agreed to sell itself to US private equity group Thoma Bravo for 650 million Canadian dollars (\u20ac404 million). <\/p>\n
The company provides software for life sciences, healthcare and other heavily regulated industries, was founded in 2007 by Eddie Ryan, Kevin Fitzgerald and Brian Ahearne. While its operational headquarters remain in Limerick, it officially became a Canadian company in 2015 after a reverse takeover that led to a listing on the Toronto exchange.<\/p>\n
Kneat\u2019s platform is built to turn important information into digital form so it remains accurate and can be tracked easily. This is seen as particularly useful in life sciences, where companies have to follow strict rules to make sure everything is safe and properly tested.<\/p>\n
For customers, this means Kneat\u2019s system helps create a reliable base so they can safely use AI in industries that are heavily regulated, according to Thoma. <\/p>\n
It is used by most of the leading life sciences companies globally, including Biogen, Pfizer and Sanofi. <\/p>\n
The news comes just weeks after Kneat said it was considering a sale of the business under a so-called strategic review. <\/p>\n
The agreed purchase prices represents a premium of approximately 40 per cent to the closing price of the shares on May 8th, the last trading day prior to Kneat announcing an ongoing strategic review, and a premium of approximately 20 per cent to last Friday\u2019s closing price. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled to partner with Thoma Bravo, who we are confident it will help us accelerate our mission and our position as the leader in digital validation and quality process automation for life sciences at an exciting time for the industry,\u201d said Ryan, chief executive of Kneat. \u201cWe are energised by the path we are announcing today which delivers value to all our stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
The management team will remain in place following the closing of the deal. <\/p>\n