Ropes & Gray Advises Partners Group on Investment in Sterling Pharma Solutions

Ropes & Gray has advised leading global private markets firm Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, on its investment in GHO Capital Partners’ portfolio company Sterling Pharma Solutions (“Sterling”), a global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (“CDMO”).

Sterling provides a full range of CDMO services across the lifecycle of new, high-value active pharmaceutical ingredients (“APIs”) and is an industry leader in the early-stage development of antibody drug conjugates (“ADCs”), a fast-growing class of cancer treatments. It benefits from a diversified blue-chip customer base and is a supply chain partner for the majority of the largest pharmaceutical companies.

Partners Group acquires a significant minority stake, bringing a wealth of international healthcare expertise to the shareholder group and helping drive future value creation.

The new investment will support Sterling as it accelerates its growth plans through the expansion of production capacity across Europe and the US. The funding also enables it to pursue further strategic acquisitions to further expand its capabilities and continue to advance its strong commitment to ESG initiatives.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity partners John Newton and Victoria McGrath with support from associates Victoria Srivastava, Sid Rajkhowa, Charlie Shephard and Josh Nicholson, and trainees Macario Chung and Simon Jagoe based in the London office. Additional support was provided by partner Alex Robb, counsel Ana Biloglav and associate Adjoa Kwarteng (finance), partner Lincoln Tsang and associates Hannah Kerr-Peterson and Daisy Bray (life sciences), and partner Andrew Howard (tax) in London alongside partner Greg Levine and associates Jessica DeLalio and Helen Ryan (life sciences), senior attorney Michael Marzano (litigation & enforcement), and partner Melissa Rones and associates Jacob Green and Zach Kramer (private equity) in the US.