After years of striking acquisitions to build up its site network, Headlands Research has now been bought itself.
Headlands has been scooped up by private equity firm THL Partners, which entered an agreement to buy the clinical trial company from founding firm KKR, THL announced in an Aug. 14 release.
THL plans to continue Headlands’ expansion campaign and build up the company’s technology and infrastructure, according to the release. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to be finalized this year.
“Given the accelerated pace of research and development, innovative companies such as Headlands are critical to advancing clinical trials with precision, scale and flexibility,” Megan Preiner, managing director at THL, said in the release.
KKR launched Headlands in 2018, and, since then, the site network has placed an emphasis on continuous growth. In recent years, the network has added sites in Puerto Rico, Baltimore and El Paso.
Headlands has also headed up a clinical trial diversity project in collaboration with Pfizer, strategically adding sites in places like Orlando, Florida, specifically meant to serve historically underrepresented populations.
THL’s other healthcare investments include Fisher Scientific, PCI Pharma Services, Syneos Health, CSafe, Adare Pharma Solutions and Red Nucleus, according to the release. Healthcare is one of the firm’s focus areas, along with financial technology and business solutions.