Reuters: LabCorp in talks to acquire PPD

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) – Could another sale be looming for PPD, the pharmaceutical contract research organization headquartered in Wilmington?

According to a report from Reuters, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) is in talks to acquire Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC (PPD) for more than $8 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The report also says LabCorp was just one of the parties participating in an auction for private equity-owned PPD, which has also attracted interest from buyout firms, the people said. The people added that there was no certainty that LabCorp would clinch a deal, and any agreement might not come for several more weeks.

Private-equity firms Carlyle Group LP and Hellman & Friedman LLC are the current owners of PPD.

The firms bought PPD, which does research for the pharmaceutical industry, in 2011 for near $4 billion. The deal took PPD’s stock off of NASDAQ.

According to Reuters, the sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations were confidential. LabCorp and PPD did not immediately respond to requests for comment. PPD’s owners, Carlyle Group LP and Hellman & Friedman LLC, declined to comment.