UDG Healthcare buys Pegasus for £16.8m
Brighton-based healthcare comms specialist Pegasus has been acquired by UDG Healthcare, a FTSE 250 listed international provider of outsourced healthcare services, for £16.8 million.
From left to right: Simon Hackett, Lisa Bradley, Viv Adshead and David Moore
The deal involves a £10.1 million initial consideration followed by £6.7 million deferred over a three year earn-out. The proceeds will be shared between a number of Pegasus shareholders.
The Pegasus board will now report to David Moore, director at Ashfield Healthcare Communications,which is part of UDG Healthcare’s Ashfield Commercial and Medical Services Division.
Moore said: “This is a strategically important acquisition for UDG Healthcare and Ashfield. It strengthens our existing comms offering and broadens our capabilities in patient and consumer communications programmes, as well as corporate reputation and crisis management for our growing client base.
“Pegasus is leading the market in the way it creates and delivers integrated solutions for its clients and we look forward to adding their expertise to our fast-growing portfolio of specialist healthcare agencies.”
Lisa Bradley, who founded Pegasus in 1992, will step into the role of chairman, following the departure of previous chairman, Tim Adams. Deputy MD Simon Hackett will take over the role of MD.
Bradley said: “It is very exciting to be joining UDG Healthcare and Ashfield at this new stage in our development. We know they are the right cultural fit for our agency and they share our passion for delivering innovative campaigns across healthcare. Joining Ashfield will increase the breadth and depth of services we offer to our clients and will provide our staff with the opportunity to acquire new skills.”
Hackett added: “We were looking for a like-minded partner that could help us deliver a step-change in the development of our business and UDG Healthcare and Ashfield are the perfect fit.
“While we will be keeping our name, location, great team and compelling mission of ‘inspiring healthy decisions’, all of which have been important ingredients in our success, we will enjoy the benefits of aligning with Ashfield in terms of service offering, talent, business development and global presence.
“With Ashfield we can see an exciting and strong future, where their reach and our shared values will mean we can compete with the well-established global networks, continue our successful growth and provide a world-class service to our clients.”
