DALLAS, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — ShiftKey, the largest platform for connecting independent licensed healthcare professionals with open shifts at healthcare facilities in the U.S. announced today that it has completed a strategic investment in Cleveland-based OnShift, the leading provider of workforce management technology for post-acute and long-term care facilities.

“Since our founding, our goal has been to combine the ShiftKey marketplace with a scheduling tool for facility employees. When the opportunity to invest in OnShift came up, we could not have been more excited to join forces with the market leader for scheduling and employee management in post-acute care.” Said Tom Ellis, Founder and CEO of ShiftKey.

The vision behind this partnership is to provide facilities with a wholistic view of their schedule showing their own workforce and independent workers in one place to create visibility into their costs and continuing to offer flexibility for how to meet the needs of their business.

“By offering the first complete solution to effectively manage the nursing schedule, our hope is to help alleviate the incredible pressure the industry is under to provide the best quality care while optimizing costs and creating transparency”, said Ellis.

While ShiftKey and OnShift will continue to operate independently, clients will benefit from additional new and innovative product offerings to help solve the operational challenges impacting healthcare administrators every day.

“OnShift and ShiftKey share a common vision to transform the healthcare industry by solving the staffing crisis,” said Mark Woodka, CEO of OnShift. “This partnership will address the unprecedented workforce challenges that today’s healthcare organizations are facing with modern, cost-effective strategies. We are excited about the long-term opportunities that our two world-class companies will deliver to the industry.”

About ShiftKey, LLC

Founded in 2016, Dallas, TX based ShiftKey is a platform that is disrupting the way healthcare facilities typically find licensed and certified professionals to fill available shifts. Leveraging marketplace dynamics and deep industry knowledge, the company is playing a vital role in mitigating America’s healthcare staffing shortages, enabling direct connections between facilities and healthcare professionals. By offering the opportunity to work as much or as little as they choose and putting the power back into the hands of healthcare workers, ShiftKey is bringing more licensed professionals back into the workforce, a solution that is solving a major crisis in healthcare. Since its inception, healthcare facilities have posted more than 35 million hours of shifts on ShiftKey, interacting with hundreds of thousands of professionals looking for flexible work. For more information, visit www.ShiftKey.com

About OnShift:

OnShift’s next-generation platform fundamentally transforms the relationship between healthcare organizations and their workers. Our innovative approach to recruitment, hiring, workforce management, pay and engagement fosters a culture where people want to work. That’s why thousands of healthcare organizations rely on OnShift’s integrated suite of software and services to dramatically reduce turnover rates, decrease costs and improve the quality and continuity of care. For more information, visit www.OnShift.com

CONTACTS:

Sabrina Capper

ShiftKey PR

PR@shiftkey.com

Marti Bowman

Chief Marketing Officer

OnShift, Inc.

mbowman@onshift.com

• EQT Private Equity to acquire SPT Labtech, a manufacturer and designer of automated instruments and consumables for life science research with a focus on liquid handling, sample management and Cryogenic Electron Microscopy (“Cryo-EM”) sample preparation technologies

• SPT Labtech’s products support cutting-edge life sciences research, providing agility, efficiency and productivity for a broad range of applications; SPT Labtech’s products help accelerate research of novel and groundbreaking therapies

• EQT Private Equity will support SPT Labtech’s next phase of growth by focusing on continued product innovation, scaling the Cryo-EM sample preparation segment and growing the business in new and existing geographies

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT IX fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to acquire SPT Labtech (“SPT” or the “Company”) from Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm for GBP 650 million. Together with management, EQT Private Equity will support and accelerate SPT Labtech’s growth journey.

Based in Melbourn, UK, SPT Labtech is a manufacturer and designer of automated liquid handling, sample preparation, and storage instruments, as well as corresponding consumables and support services for life science research. The Company was founded in 1997 and spun out from TTP Group. Since 2018 it has been owned by Battery Ventures.

Supported by strong secular megatrends, SPT presents a highly thematic investment opportunity within EQT’s prioritized Life Science Tools subsector. The automation of research, miniaturization trends (more analyses with the same sample volume) and a broader adoption of multi-omics will support SPT’s core liquid handling business for years to come.

Cryo-EM is a cutting-edge technique supporting the research of new drug targets within novel modalities like cell and gene therapy, as well as mRNA, with the Company’s addressable instrument and consumable market expected to grow 35-40 percent going forward.

SPT is the leader in resilient and fast-growing market niches, including in its core segment, the low-throughput liquid handling market, with expected future market growth of 9-10 percent CAGR.

SPT helps researchers save time through automation and enables labs to research for example chronic illnesses and provide treatments or find cures for previously untreatable conditions. The Company’s core values are closely aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #3 of ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing. By providing sample preparation instruments and consumables for the novel Cryo-EM technology – for which the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2017 – SPT supports industry innovation and accelerates research outcomes.

Under EQT Private Equity’s ownership, the Company will benefit from EQT’s strong advisor and expert network as well as the inhouse digital team. EQT will further support the Company in new product innovation, expansion into existing and new geographies and end-markets (e.g., catering to the in-vitro diagnostics market, doubling down on APAC and accelerating Cryo-EM) as well as selective M&A to further strengthen SPT’s market position.

Michael Bauer, Partner and Global Co-Head of the Healthcare Team, said, “We are excited to work with SPT Labtech and make an acquisition in our prioritized Life Science Tools subsector. We have been following the company for a long time and are thrilled to now be able to partner with CEO David Newble and his team. We believe the combination of our unique industry expertise, including our external EQT Advisor Network and in-house digital team, position us to support the company on its next phase of growth and enhance its mission of ‘making a difference in human health in everything we do’.”

David Newble, CEO of SPT Labtech, added, “We at SPT greatly appreciate the stewardship of the Battery team over the last four years and are very keen to welcome EQT as our new owner and look forward to benefiting from the broad range of capabilities and expertise the EQT platform can offer. We are ready to embark on the next phase of our growth journey, in which we aim to foster SPT Labtech’s strong market positions in our existing businesses and explore new market opportunities, while making a positive impact on society. We are aligned with the EQT team on our joint vision for the future of the company and could not imagine a better new owner.”

EQT Private Equity was advised by Evercore (M&A), Kirkland & Ellis (Legal), Deloitte (Financial & Tax), BCG (Commercial), Ringstone (Technology) and The Footprint Firm (ESG). Battery Ventures and SPT Labtech were advised by J.P. Morgan (exclusive financial advisor) and Charles Russell Speechlys and SecondSight Law (legal). The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close during Q3 2022.

With this transaction, EQT IX is expected to be 85-90 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication).

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 77 billion in assets under management across 36 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 280,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About SPT Labtech
SPT Labtech makes products that transform the way scientists work. For nearly two decades, our expert scientists, engineers and business innovators have created innovative solutions for liquid handling, sample preparation and management that help accelerate research and make a real difference to human health. We work collaboratively with our customers, building trusted relationships that enable us to deliver exceptional, personalized experiences designed for real world challenges in the lab.

More info: www.sptlabtech.com

About Battery Ventures
Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams developing category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, enterprise infrastructure, consumer tech, healthcare IT and industrial technology. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from offices in Boston, San Francisco, Menlo Park, Tel Aviv, London and New York.

More info: www.battery.com

Follow Battery Ventures on Twitter

Chicago, IL and Columbus, GA (June 21, 2022) – Linden Capital Partners (“Linden”), a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to make a majority investment in Aspirion (the “Company”), a leader in technology-enabled healthcare revenue cycle management (“RCM”). Following the transaction, the Company’s management team and Aquiline Capital Partners (“Aquiline”), a private investment firm based in New York and London, will remain investors in the Company.

Aspirion is a leading healthcare RCM provider across complex claims and revenue integrity, offering a broad array of technology-driven solutions for the most specialized revenue cycle challenges faced by hospital systems and healthcare providers. The Company’s team of healthcare, legal, and technical professionals, in conjunction with its proprietary AI-enabled software, help hospitals and physicians improve claims processing time and increase overall collections. Aspirion’s product suite is centered on complex claims, an umbrella category for third party liability claims related to non-traditional payors, and revenue integrity, which addresses clinically complex claims with traditional medical payors.

“We are very excited to enter into this partnership with Linden and leverage Linden’s deep healthcare experience, relationships, and strategic support to execute against our shared value creation plan and better serve our clients,” said Jason Erdell, CEO of Aspirion.

Kam Shah, Partner at Linden, said “We congratulate Jason and the entire Aspirion management team on their collective roles in building a highly regarded provider of specialized RCM solutions whose differentiated capabilities help hospital systems and providers navigate a difficult operating environment characterized by increasing denial rates and growing complexity in patient clinical records. We look forward to supporting Aspirion and positioning the Company for continued growth, particularly through strategic investments in technology, product, and M&A.”

“We are proud to have helped Aspirion become an industry leader in complex claims RCM through investing in people, technology and strategic acquisitions,” said Jeff Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Aquiline Capital Partners. “We look forward to continuing as investors and, alongside Linden, supporting Aspirion through its planned next phase of growth.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Baird is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP is serving as legal counsel to Aquiline and Aspirion. Guggenheim Securities, LLC and Cain Brothers, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., are serving as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Linden. Twin Brook Capital Partners is providing debt financing for the transaction.

About Aspirion
Aspirion, headquartered in Columbus, GA, helps hospitals and physicians recover otherwise lost claims revenue from Motor Vehicle Accidents, Workers’ Compensation, Veterans Affairs, and TRICARE as well as out-of-state Medicaid, Medicaid eligibility, underpayments, and denials. Aspirion’s experienced team of healthcare, legal, and technical professionals combined with industry-leading technology platforms help ensure that providers receive their Complex RCM revenue so that providers, hospitals, and their staff can focus on patient care. The Company serves over 140 clients across 45 states, including 40% of the largest health systems in the U.S.

About Linden Capital Partners
Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Linden is one of the country’s largest dedicated healthcare private equity firms. Linden’s strategy is based upon three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program. Linden invests in middle market platforms in the medical products, specialty distribution, pharmaceutical, and services segments of healthcare. Since its founding, Linden has invested in over 40 healthcare companies encompassing over 200 total transactions. The firm has raised over $6 billion in limited partner commitments since inception. For more information, please visit www.lindenllc.com.

Columbia, MD (June 10, 2022) – Advarra, a leading provider of regulatory, quality, and compliance solutions and clinical trial technologies in the life sciences sector, today announced that private equity funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPP Investments”) have signed a definitive agreement to make a majority investment in Advarra. The investment includes significant continued equity participation from Genstar Capital and Linden Capital Partners, current shareholders, and management. Blackstone is investing in Advarra through its core private equity strategy, which invests in high-quality companies for longer periods than traditional private equity.

Advarra advances life sciences research by enabling safe, ethical, and compliant clinical trials and providing core workflow technology to support the development of life-saving therapies. Its trusted Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), and related services help ensure compliance and participant safety during clinical trials while its innovative software solutions enable clinical research sites to manage their research in a compliant and efficient way. Advarra’s software solutions also connect life sciences sponsors, contract research organizations (CROs), researchers, and academic medical centers, enabling them to better engage and collaborate throughout the conduct of the clinical trial. Advarra is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland and has extensive geographic reach.

“We are excited to join forces with Blackstone and CPP Investments. Their global reach, leading healthcare and technology franchises, shared values, and commitment to life sciences make them the right partners to further accelerate growth in the next stage of our journey,” said Gadi Saarony, CEO of Advarra. “They bring deep global and sector experience and relationships to support new service, data, and software innovation capabilities that enhance compliance, transparency, collaboration, and overall value to our clients across the life sciences ecosystem. We are grateful for the strong support and contributions from Genstar and Linden over the last several years, and we are pleased they have chosen to remain significant investors.”

Anushka Sunder, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said, “We are proud to back Advarra given its important role in enabling high-quality clinical R&D and helping its clients bring life-changing treatments to patients. Sustained innovation and scientific advancement in life sciences is one of our highest conviction investment themes across Blackstone. We are excited to partner with Gadi and the rest of the Advarra team to continue investing in talent, differentiated scientific expertise, customer-centric solutions, and innovative clinical trial technology to realize Advarra’s full potential in the years ahead.”

“Advarra has established a strong reputation in the industry and is well positioned to address the growing need for high-quality clinical research solutions, making it a good fit for our long-term investment strategy,” said Sam Blaichman, Managing Director, Head of North America, Direct Private Equity at CPP Investments. “We look forward to working with our partners and management to support the growth of the business in the coming years.”

“Since our acquisition in 2019, Gadi and the Advarra team have transformed the business into a leading provider of workflow solutions to make clinical trials safer, more efficient and ultimately, more successful,” commented David Golde, Managing Director at Genstar Capital. “It has been a pleasure driving this transformation with the Advarra team, and the company is on a very exciting trajectory to further its mission supporting the life sciences industry and the patients it serves. We wish Gadi, the entire management team, Blackstone, and CPP Investments the best success in driving Advarra’s next phase of strategic growth.”

Jefferies LLC is serving as lead financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP as legal counsel to Genstar and Advarra. BofA Securities acted as advisor in connection with the transaction. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal counsel and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC as financial advisor to Blackstone.

About Advarra
Advarra advances the way clinical research is conducted: bringing life sciences companies, CROs, research sites, investigators, and academia together at the intersection of safety, technology, and collaboration. With trusted review solutions, innovative technologies, experienced consultants, and deep-seated connections across the industry, Advarra provides integrated solutions that safeguard trial participants, empower clinical sites, ensure compliance, and optimize research performance. Advarra is advancing clinical trials to make them safer, smarter, and faster. For more information, visit www.advarra.com.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $915 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

About CPP Investments
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Fund in the best interest of the 21 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, investments are made around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At March 31, 2022, the Fund totalled C$539 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

About Genstar Capital
Genstar Capital (www.gencap.com) is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for over 30 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar currently has approximately $35 billion of assets under management and targets investments focused on targeted segments of the financial services, healthcare, industrials, and software industries.

About Linden Capital Partners
Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Linden is one of the country’s largest dedicated healthcare private equity firms. Linden’s strategy is based upon three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program. Linden invests in middle market platforms in the medical products, specialty distribution, pharmaceutical, and services segments of healthcare. Since its founding, Linden has invested in over 40 healthcare companies encompassing over 200 total transactions. The firm has raised over $6 billion in limited partner commitments since inception. For more information, please visit www.lindenllc.com.

(McKinney, TX) June 8, 2022 – StatLab Medical Products (StatLab), a Linden Capital Partners and Audax Private Equity portfolio company and a leading developer and manufacturer of medical diagnostic supplies and equipment, today announced that it has acquired CellPath Ltd. (CellPath), a UK-based manufacturer and supplier of products and services focused on the histology and cytology markets. This addition of new manufacturing capabilities and established UK customer base both strengthens the core business and positions StatLab for international growth and market expansion.

Based in the UK, CellPath was founded in 1969 by Peter Webber as a histology consumables company known as Bethlehem Instruments, and quickly expanded into equipment. Today, CellPath is an established market leader in Europe, providing key products and services to both the cytology and histology market segments. With this acquisition, StatLab expands its reach in Europe, adds key injection molding manufacturing capabilities, and acquires proprietary products including the CellNass archiving service.

“We have long respected CellPath for their well-earned reputation of delivering innovative products that solve problems for labs, and are proud to welcome them to the StatLab family of brands” said Mike Karsonovich, CEO of StatLab. “Now paired with the strategic acquisition of UK-based equipment manufacturer Pyramid Innovation in 2021, CellPath’s established European market position and complementary portfolio will empower meaningful international growth in the histology sector.”

Phillip Weber, CellPath Joint Managing Director along with his brother Paul, adds “StatLab is an excellent fit for us; their US market access and business infrastructure will help jointly expand customer access to products and services as a global market leader. We also appreciate their leadership commitment to ensure we maintain the high levels of service and quality that our family’s business is known for as we partner as one organization.”

CellPath will continue operating in the same locations and under the existing leadership structure to prevent any business disruption.

About StatLab Medical Products
Founded in 1976, StatLab Medical Products is leading the way in development and manufacturing of high-quality histology, cytology and immunohistochemistry diagnostic products. We partner with anatomic pathology laboratories to provide easy access to over 3,500 high-quality diagnostic products and equipment at excellent prices, delivered with expert support. When you work with StatLab, we’re on your team, and you’re part of our family. Learn more at www.statlab.com.

About Linden Capital Partners
Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Linden is one of the country’s largest dedicated healthcare private equity firms. Linden’s strategy is based upon three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program. Linden invests in middle market platforms in the medical products, specialty distribution, pharmaceutical, and services segments of healthcare. Since its founding, Linden has invested in over 40 healthcare companies encompassing over 200 total transactions. The firm has raised over $6 billion in limited partner commitments since inception. For more information, please visit www.lindenllc.com.

About Audax Private Equity
Audax Group is a leading alternative investment manager with offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Since its founding in 1999, the firm has raised over $30 billion in capital across its Private Equity and Private Debt businesses. Audax Private Equity has invested over $7 billion in more than 140 platforms and over 1,000 add-on companies, and is currently investing out of its $3.5 billion, sixth private equity fund. Through its disciplined Buy & Build approach, Audax Private Equity seeks to help platform companies execute add-on acquisitions that fuel revenue growth, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value. With more than 250 employees, Audax is a leading capital partner for North American middle market companies. For more information, visit the Audax Private Equity website: www.audaxprivateequity.com or follow Audax on LinkedIn.