Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises ICG as lead on GP-led for nuclear medicine specialist Curium Pharma

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised ICG Strategic Equity, as the lead investor, in CapVest’s GP-led secondary in respect of Curium Pharma, one of the largest single-asset secondary transactions to take place in 2020.

Dual-headquartered in Paris and London, with manufacturing facilities across Europe and the United States, Curium Pharma is a global vertically integrated developer, manufacturer and distributer of medical radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals for use in diagnostic imaging and therapeutic procedures. It was reportedly the subject of a highly contested sale process earlier in this year, before London-based sponsor CapVest decided to explore a secondary process after the onset of the global pandemic.

Speaking on the transaction Tom Lin said, "Curium is a world-class business that is widely acknowledged as a leader in its field. We would like to congratulate ICG Strategic Equity, a flagship strategy of long-standing client Intermediate Capital Group, on successfully securing this marquee investment opportunity. We have seen an incredibly dynamic second half of 2020 in the GP-led segment of the secondary market as macroeconomic factors continue to recalibrate sponsors’ and investors’ expectations on exit horizons, as well as the accelerated growth potential of certain asset classes. We expect to see the strong momentum continue into 2021.”

Partner Tom Lin and counsel Alice Ho (Singapore) led the Clifford Chance team with partners Daryl Liu (Singapore), Stephen Reese (London) and Emma Davies (Hong Kong), senior associates Jessica Fitch (Singapore), Alex Walker (London) and Wei Xun Toh (Singapore), and trainee associates Shi Cheng Chong and Samantha Phey (Singapore). Partner Richard Blewett (Brussels) led a global merger control and FDI team including counsel Brian Concklin (Washington) and associates Epistimi Oikonomopoulou (Brussels), Laurence Hull and Michaela Spero (Washington). Partners Anthony Stewart (London) and David Moldenhauer (New York) and senior associates Laura Underhill (London) and Jason Sacks (New York) advised on the tax aspects.

Clifford Chance regularly advises on secondaries across the entire spectrum, including recently Aberdeen Standard Investments on a secondary sale of a ~US$500 million portfolio of private equity fund interests; and Idinvest Partners on the sale of a portfolio of investments in 12 growth companies to a newly established private fund, Idinvest Growth Secondary SLP, capitalised by the private equity secondary market.