Life sciences consultancy MAP gains backing for buyout
Pharmaceutical market consultancy MAP Patient Access has received backing for a managerial buyout, from Kester Capital. The advisory firm’s shareholders were advised on the process by experts from Grant Thornton.
Increasing pressure on healthcare budgets is driving higher levels of scrutiny from healthcare advisory bodies around the world. With its deep domain expertise, MAP Patient Access is well positioned to help its customers navigate these challenges. The consultancy has a proven track record of helping its customers navigate increasingly complex healthcare reimbursement pathways, with particular expertise in rare and orphan diseases and cell and gene therapies.
Headquartered in Cambridge, MAP is dedicated to accelerating patient access to ground-breaking medicines, devices, and diagnostics. The firm was founded by Christian and Dawn Hill, and its integrated approach blends best-in-class consulting with membership including its proprietary digital platform, MAP Online, which provides market access intelligence to its customers.
This proposition attracted interest from Kester Capital, a UK lower mid-market private equity specialist. The investment represents Kester’s fifth investment in the life sciences sector, and will allow MAP to invest in broadening its service offering and expand into new territories. Kester and management will also target acquisitions to accelerate the growth of the MAP platform.
Adam Maidment, Managing Partner of Kester Capital, commented, “Kester has been targeting the market access and reimbursement sector for some time and we are delighted to have the opportunity to invest in MAP, one of the leading businesses in this space. We are looking forward to partnering with Dawn, Christian and the existing management team to continue the growth of the business organically and through acquisition.”
The Cambridge-based corporate finance team of Grant Thornton advised the shareholders of MAP on the sale of a majority stake to Kester. The team had been working closely with the shareholders and leadership team since 2020 to develop a transaction strategy, before identifying Kester as the ideal partner to support MAP’s growth aspirations.
Doug Bentley, Partner at Grant Thornton, said, “MAP is a high-quality consultancy with deep expertise across orphan and ultra orphan diseases and cell and gene therapies. The strong cultural and strategic alignment with Kester will help the business to deliver its ambitious growth plans.”
Advising on the completion of this deal, follows a positive 2022 where Grant Thornton UK’s East of England corporate finance team completed 31 deals. As the UK deals market continues to slow, further acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector – which remains more heated than the wider market – will be key to maintaining that momentum.
Christian Hill, Co-founder of MAP, added, “Doug and his team at Grant Thornton held our hands at all stages of the transaction, which was important as this was our first such transaction. We are excited to be working with Kester to help further achieve our vision.”
