French tech company Dassault Systèmes said today it will purchase health tech firm Medidata Solutions (NSDQ:MDSO) in an all-cash transaction for $5.8 billion on an enterprise value basis or $92.25 per share, slightly lower than yesterday’s closing price of $94.75. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
Dassault Systèmes said the acquisition of New York-based Medidata will reinforce its position as a science-based company.
“Today marks a significant milestone for the life sciences industry and the value of the virtual world to address the complexity of developing personalized medicine and patient-centric experiences,” Dassault Systèmes CEO and vice chairman Bernard Charlès said in a news release. “Multidiscipline scientific innovation and industrial performance call for a platform approach connecting the dots between people, ideas and data.”
Medtech companies use Medidata’s software to help them track clinical trials. The company also helps clinics manage back-office operations, including data management and analytics. Medidata’s 1,300 worldwide customers include pharmaceutical companies and biotechs, contract research organizations (CROs), and medical centers and sites. Nine of the top 10 CROs and 18 of the top 25 pharmaceutical companies are Medidata customers, according to news release. Founded in 1999, Medidata has 16 offices across seven countries, including the U.S., Japan, Korea, and the U.K., and has 2,800 employees.
Medidata’s work in clinical trials complements Dassault’s life sciences solutions on its 3DExperience collaborative business platform, according to Charlès.
“Medidata’s recent expansion into real-world evidence and analytics coupled with the power of modeling and simulation demonstrates how the virtual world will catalyze the next generation of patient-inclusive therapeutics,” Charlès said. “We are now well-positioned to be the enabler of the life sciences industry transformation, illustrating our company’s purpose of harmonizing product, nature and life.”
“Our mission to get the right treatment to the right patient at the right time has fueled our 20-year journey of innovation and commitment to the life sciences industry,” said Medidata co-founder, chairman and CEO Tarek Sherif. “We share common vision, values and passion with Dassault Systèmes, and our combined talents will empower the life sciences industry with an end-to-end business platform.”
“Facilitating new therapeutic innovations to become the next standards of care has been our commitment since day one,” added Medidata co-founder and president Glen de Vries. “Ultimately, we will unlock enormous opportunities for our customers and patients, advancing life sciences in the age of precision medicine.”
Dassault Systèmes collaborates with the world’s top 20 biopharma companies, hundreds of biotechnology companies, medical device manufacturers, research institutes, and governmental regulatory agencies to develop and launch innovative health products and technologies.
The acquisition is expected to close during the last quarter of 2019, depending upon certain regulatory approvals, approval by the majority of Medidata’s shareholders and other customary closing conditions.
Medidata’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, with profits of $53 million on sales of $636 million. Its shares were trading 3.5% lower at $91.40 each this morning.
