Mercia Ventures has secured a 4.5x return after exiting Gentronix as part of its sale to Danish-based Scantox Group.
Gentronix is a world leader in genetic toxicology and has been acquired for an undisclosed sum.
The deal provides an exit for Mercia Ventures鈥� Northern Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs), which have sold their stake in the business for 拢14.8m, representing a 4.5x return on investment.
Gentronix,听which is based in Alderley Park in Cheshire, provides predictive toxicology services to the global pharma and chemical industry, enabling clients developing new drugs or products to identify genotoxic compounds at an early stage.
Founded in 1999 by Professor Richard Walmsley, Gentronix now employs almost 70 employees, having doubled its workforce since 2021.
The company received the King鈥檚 Award for Enterprise in May this year after increasing its overseas earnings by听239 per cent over three years, driving annual revenue to over 拢10m, with export sales accounting for 81 per cent of that.
Following the acquisition, Gentronix will continue to operate under its current name and from its existing premises.
The deal will give it access to new global opportunities while enabling Scantox to expand its services in response to client demands and provide a one-stop shop to support drug development in the lead up to human trials.
Matt Tate, CEO of Gentronix, said:听鈥淏ecoming a part of Scantox Group is a fantastic next step for Gentronix, opening up unique possibilities for us to offer an even greater service portfolio to our clients.
鈥淭he scale-up journey at Gentronix has been strongly supported by Mercia and the Northen VCTs.
鈥淎lex Gwyther and the team have been fantastic investment partners, working with us to develop a successful contract research organisation听(CRO) that now has the opportunity to continue its growth within the Scantox group.鈥�
Mercia鈥檚 Northern VCTs first invested in Gentronix in 2007 and provided further funding over the years to support its ongoing growth.
Alex Gwyther, of Mercia Ventures, said:听鈥淭his deal demonstrates the benefit of patient capital in building a world-class life sciences business.
鈥淚t has been rewarding to see Gentronix evolve and in recent years it has gained real momentum under the leadership of Matt and his team.
鈥淭he time is right for Gentronix to enter the next phase of its growth story and Scantox is an ideal partner. Bringing together these two businesses will create a leading global force in toxicology and pharmaceutical development.鈥�
Following the acquisition, the Scantox Group will employ nearly 400 people across seven European sites.
Scantox is owned by Impilo, the leading Nordic healthcare investment company.
Jeanet听L酶gsted, CEO of Scantox Group, added:听鈥淚 am thrilled that Scantox Group has been able to partner up with Gentronix.
鈥淕enetic toxicology is a missing link in our portfolio and frequently requested by our clients to become a one-stop-shop premier CRO partner.
鈥淕entronix麓s service line, client base, high quality standards and not least people culture fits perfectly with our DNA.
鈥淥ur business plan is to continuously expand our service portfolio across all sites and add scientific excellence to the group.鈥�
Mercia Ventures is a proactive venture capital investor focused on being the first-choice partner for growth. Mercia Ventures makes equity investments of up to 拢10m across all sectors, with specialisms in software, consumer, healthcare and DeepTech.