Water Street Healthcare Partners has sold its pharmaceutical outsourcing services company, AAIPharma Services Corp., to Cambridge Major Laboratories Inc. (CML), and AAIPharma and CML have merged to form a provider of integrated chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) services. Patrick D. Walsh will serve as the chief executive officer of the merged company.
 
American Capital, Ltd. has committed $391 million to the combination of its portfolio company CML with AAIPharma. CML is a global provider of complex chemistry-based outsourcing services and API manufacturing services to the pharma and biopharma industries. CML, based in Germantown, WI, operates from FDA-inspected facilities in the U.S. and Europe.
 
Water Street acquired AAIPharma in 2009. Following a strategic expansion program, AAIPharma became a provider of development services, including a range of formulation development and analytical testing services, as well as clinical and commercial manufacturing of drug products. AAIPharma has five U.S. and E.U. certified facilities in NC, SC, NJ and MO.
 
Kyle Bradford, managing director at American Capital, said, “We are very excited to be working with Pat on the continued growth of CML and AAIPharma. He is a well-respected CEO with over 30 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry. AAIPharma’s industry-leading formulation development and analytical service offerings complement CML’s world-class API development and manufacturing capabilities, and the combination creates an industry-leading contract development and manufacturing organization (“CDMO”) that is positioned for significant growth and expansion.”
 
Brian Scanlan, CML’s president and chief executive officer, said, “This combination is a significant step for both CML and AAIPharma, creating a first of its kind merger of two equals: two highly respected, market leading firms in the CDMO space.  With expertise in API development, analytical chemistry formulation and manufacturing, the combined company allows for drugs to be designed more efficiently from early stage development to commercialization.” Mr. Scanlan, as previously reported, will serve as president, business operations, at the merged company.
 
“We look forward to joining the American Capital family of portfolio companies and leveraging their expertise in facilitating organizational growth and integration,” said Pat Walsh, AAIPharma chief executive officer. “We believe the merger of AAIPharma and CML will offer customers a reliable partner that can address the majority of their pharmaceutical development and manufacturing requirements.”