• Vitro’s exit was structured through the closing of a single asset continuation vehicle and the sale of its subsidiary Cytognos to Becton Dickinson
• GED Capital achieved 4.1x return and 40.6% IRR on Vitro Group’s exit from the fund GED España V
• The transaction was led by Glendower Capital (now a division of CVC) along with, Newbury Partners, Headway Capital Partners and Argentum, adding new partners to the GED platform through an oversubscribed syndicate.
Madrid, February 22nd, 2022.
GED Capital (“GED”) divested Vitro Group (“Vitro” or the “Company”) through a dual exit route, first selling its flow cytometry division (“Cytognos”) to the healthcare multinational Becton Dickinson in January 2022 and then its molecular diagnostics and anatomic pathology businesses into a single asset continuation vehicle branded GED Strategic Partnerships I (“GED SPI”) in February 2022.
Cytognos specializes in flow cytometry solutions for blood cancer diagnosis, minimal residual disease (MRD) detection, and immune monitoring research for hematological diseases. The sale of this subsidiary enables Vitro to focus as a new worldwide diagnostic player in key market segments of molecular diagnostics and anatomic pathology.
GED Strategic Partnerships I acquired GED Fund V and the founders’ remaining interest in the Company and secured additional follow-on capital to fund its value creation plan.
Vitro (www.vitro.bio) is a global, end-to-end, diagnostics company that manufactures and distributes hardware, software and reagents. It focuses on molecular diagnostics, anatomic pathology and women’s health segments and is in the process setting up each business segment as an independent unit
Vitro has exceptional R&D capabilities, direct commercial infrastructure across Spain, Portugal and Turkey as well as a global distribution network. Vitro celebrated last year the 30-year anniversary since foundation and has expanded into more than 45 countries since then. With the support from GED Strategic Partnerships I, Vitro will have additional time and resources to focus on the launch of its new, first-in-class in vitro diagnostics platforms in 2022.
Javier Fernandez Lopez, CEO of Vitro said: “GED’s contribution is further demonstrated by their creativity in supporting our growth beyond the perimeter of their original investment plan, capital and time horizon. We feel alignment in maximizing the value of our business by better positioning each of our remaining subsidiaries to grow within their segment and eventually develop as stand-alone operations.”
GED is an independent asset manager founded in 1996 focused on the middle market. It currently manages over €1.0bn of capital across private equity, venture capital and infrastructure investment platforms funded by local Spanish institutions and HNW individuals, as well as a growing base of international investors.
Enrique Centelles Satrústegui, Managing Partner of GED said: “We are delighted to have completed this transaction with such a strong investor base. We are confident that with this additional time and capital supported by an exceptional management team and clear strategy, will create significant value for Vitro over the next years. The secondary market continues to be a tool to provide optionality for our investors while supporting exceptional portfolio companies. We are also very comfortable with the transaction having received full support from our current investor base and Fund V supervisory board.”
This single asset continuation fund, GED Strategic Partnerships I, is the third secondary transaction led by GED after a tail-end transaction in 2012, and an early secondary investment in GED España V in 2018.
Terms of individual transactions undisclosed
GP led advisors:
Fairview Capital Group acted as exclusive financial advisor on the secondary transaction
KWM provided legal advice on the transaction
Company advisors:
Lazard provided M&A advice on the sale of Cytognos
Garrigues advised on the sale
KPMG did valuation work
About GED (www.gedcapital.com)
GED is an independent management company founded in 1996 that operates in the lower/mid-market segment. It currently manages more than 1,000 million euros through different Private Equity, Infrastructure and Venture Capital vehicles.
GED has a universe of more than 50 national and foreign investors, mainly pension funds, fund funds, insurance companies, family offices and financial institutions.
GED currently manages three funds within its Private Equity activity, with a total of €375m.
For more information:
José Luis González / Luciano Figari
Tel.: 91 702 71 70 / 661 850 384
E-Mail: jlgonzalez@kreab.com / lfigari@kreab.com
