PE Deals

KKR’s Gamma Biosciences to sell Astrea Bioseparations to Biotage

Gamma's sale of Astrea will be in exchange for newly issued shares in Biotage.

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  • Astrea’s enterprise value will be $190m to be paid at closing in Biotage shares
  • Gamma will pump in around $25m of capital into Astrea
  • Following the deal, Gamma will become the largest shareholder in Biotage

KKR’s global sciences platform Gamma Biosciences has agreed to sell its operating company Astrea Bioseparations to Biotage in exchange for newly issued shares in Biotage.

Astrea is a provider of process chromatography solutions including columns, resins, and nanofibre purification technology for life sciences and other adjacent industries. The firm is headquartered in Cambridge, UK.

The transaction is subject to Biotage’s shareholder approval and customary closing conditions.

Astrea and Biotage’s integration will create a ‘global chromatography leader’ with a mix of products and services across multiple end-markets globally, according to a release.

“We are thrilled with this example of Gamma’s playbook for transforming promising next-generation bioprocessing companies into high-growth strategic assets, and we see significant potential for the combined Biotage platform, as well as the remaining assets within Gamma’s portfolio” said Kugan Sathiyanandarajah, managing director at KKR and head of Europe for KKR’s health care strategic growth strategy, and Anuv Ratan, director at KKR.

Gamma acquired Astrea in late 2019 and has since grown the firm organically and via acquisitions.

Gamma will also pump in around $25 million of investment into Astrea.

Astrea’s enterprise value will be $190 million to be paid at closing in Biotage shares and up to $45 million in milestone-based cash payments after the completion of the deal.

Further, Gamma is expected to be the largest shareholder in Biotage, with around 17 percent of shares outstanding.

Gamma is a life sciences platform formed by KKR based in Menlo Park, California.

Biotage is a global impact tech firm headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden.

KKR is a global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance products. The firm is headquartered in New York.