RALEIGH – PRA Health Sciences announced on Wednesday morning financial results that exceeded Wall Street expectations – and then disclosed that it had been acquired in a $ 12 billion deal by Ireland-based ICON. As a result, Raleigh will lose the company’s headquarters.
The combined ICON-PRA company will be based in Dublin.
And ICON is paying a high price – the deal was valued at 30% over the price of PRA’s shares before the announcement.
PRA’s shares (Nasdaq: PRAH) soared more than 20% with the news, to $ 154. The company has about 17,000 employees worldwide. The company moved its headquarters to Raleigh in 2008.
Colin Shannon, PRA’s president and CEO, will serve on the combined company’s board once the deal is closed.
ICON and PRA were competitors in the global life science business known as contract research organizations, or CROs.
The Triangle is a center for the CRO industry, home or place for the main operations of companies such as Syneos Health, IQVIA, LabCorp, Parexel and PPD.
Steve Cutler, CEO of ICON, will lead the combined company.
In the ad, Shannon explained the reason for the deal:
“I joined PRA 13 years ago to help build a company that would make a difference in the world and transform the way we develop new drugs. The way we do it now takes a long time and is very expensive. Critically ill patients cannot wait for a cure. Needy populations cannot wait for access. Every day counts. COVID-19 has created a platform for change that we cannot ignore. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of mobile health technologies and health intelligence tools – tools that PRA helped to develop – at an unprecedented pace. The combination of PRA and ICON will create an organization that has people, data and technology to bring these cures to patients more quickly and efficiently than ever before. We are excited to join ICON, a company with a similar culture and values. I am deeply grateful to the 19,000 talented PRA employees who helped us bring that vision closer to reality. We are together now because patients cannot wait ”.
PRA shareholders will receive $ 80 in cash and 0.4125 shares from ICON.
ICON is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol ICLR. ICON’s shares fell about 7% to $ 195 on the news.
“The combined company will create a new paradigm to accelerate clinical research and bring new drugs and devices to the market,” said Cutler, ICON’s CEO.
“Both ICON and PRA have a history of robust growth and performance and we are ready to build this position of unparalleled strength, using exceptional talent in both organizations. With a broader and deeper operational scale combined with innovative technology and real-world data solutions, we will allow all customers to reduce their development time and cost. We will be the leading provider of decentralized and hybrid testing solutions through the integration of our Accellacare data resources, healthcare platforms and local network. The transaction will be highly accretive after the close of year 1 ”.