Providence Equity Partners Acquires Majority Control of Decision Resources
WALTHAM, Mass., May 21: Decision Resources, Inc., one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, announced today that Providence Equity Partners, a leading private equity firm with more than $21 billion under management, will acquire majority control of the Company. With the additional resources that Providence provides, Decision Resources plans to accelerate its growth.
"We are excited to plan our future with Providence," said Peter Hoenigsberg, CEO of Decision Resources. "There is a tremendous need for sophisticated, objective health care market research, and Decision Resources has been able to provide that to clients for three decades. With the resources that Providence offers, we will be entering a period of accelerated growth through acquisitions that complement our strategy as well as enhance and add to our core product lines. These initiatives will allow us to offer even greater value to our customers and more significant growth opportunities to our staff."
"For three decades, Decision Resources has provided unique insights into the trends shaping health care," said Peter Wilde, a managing director at Providence. "We look forward to partnering with Peter and his team to support Decision Resources' continued growth. Our investment in Decision Resources underscores Providence's commitment to investing in and supporting the growth of exceptional information companies around the world."
Decision Resources, Inc. was previously owned by private equity firms Castanea Partners, Inc. and Boston Ventures Management, LLC. Under the leadership of Mr. Hoenigsberg, Castanea, and Boston Ventures, the Company acquired HealthLeaders, a managed care market research firm, and Millennium Research Group, a medical device market research firm, as part of a healthcare diversification strategy that yielded significant growth, with revenues doubling and cash flows tripling in three years.
Decision Resources will continue with its current management team led by Mr. Hoenigsberg, who will remain CEO, and Sarah Fuller, a co-founder of the Company, who will remain president. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed within 45 days.
"Since Peter left Castanea Partners to become CEO of Decision Resources, he and his team have done an outstanding job of accessing new markets and customers by building on the Company's insightful, value-added health care information assets with targeted product development and acquisitions," said Robert Smith, co-managing partner of Castanea Partners.
"It has been a pleasure to work with Decision Resources in taking the Company to a level that defines it as one of the premier health care advisory and market research organizations in the world," said Elizabeth Granville- Smith, managing director at Boston Ventures. "As we pass the Company to the capable hands of Providence, we know there is much more of a journey for Decision Resources to take. We look forward to watching the Company continue its successful progression."
About Castanea Partners
Founded in 2001, Castanea Partners is a Boston-based private equity firm that invests in small to middle market companies. The firm is made up of a core team of top operating executives and experienced private equity professionals with a strategy of investing in market segments where its partners have operating expertise, including information services, education/training, publishing, consumer products, and specialty retail. Castanea is currently investing from its second fund, targeting companies with enterprise values between $25 million and $125 million. For more information on Castanea Partners, please visit www.castaneapartners.com.
About Boston Ventures
Boston Ventures Management, LLC (www.bostonventures.com) is a private equity firm that has been an active investor and financial partner to management teams in the media, entertainment, communications, and business information sectors since 1983, earning the firm a franchise position in the private equity community. Boston Ventures' general partners and principals are accomplished and experienced professionals who have a diverse and complementary range of skills and a broad network of domestic and international relationships. Since its inception, Boston Ventures has invested approximately $2 billion in its target industries. Boston Ventures is currently investing their seventh fund.
About Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is the leading global private equity firm specializing in equity investments in media, entertainment, communications, and information companies around the world. The principals of Providence manage funds with approximately $21 billion in equity commitments and have invested in more than 100 companies operating in more than 20 countries since the firm's inception in 1989. Significant investments include Bresnan Broadband Holdings, Casema, Digiturk, Education Management Corporation, eircom, Freedom Communications, Idea Cellular, Kabel Deutschland, Medical Media Holdings, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Ono, Open Solutions, PanAmSat, ProSiebenSat.1, TDC, Univision, VoiceStream Wireless, Warner Music Group, and Yankees Entertainment Sports Network. Providence is headquartered in Providence, RI (USA) and has offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, and New Delhi.
About Decision Resources, Inc.
Decision Resources, Inc. is a world leader in research publications, advisory services, and consulting designed to help clients shape strategy, allocate resources, and master their chosen markets. The Company currently has three business units including HealthLeaders-InterStudy, the leading provider of managed care industry intelligence; Millennium Research Group, the global authority on medical device market intelligence; and Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and health care issues. You can visit the companies' web sites at www.decisionresources.com, www.mrg.net, and healthleaders-interstudy.com.
Source: Decision Resources, Inc.
CONTACT: Elizabeth Marshall Decision Resources, Inc.,
+1-781-296-2563, emarshall@dresources.com, Andrew Cole Sard
+Verbinnen, 1-415-618-8750, acole@sardverb.com, Providence Equity
+Partners
Web site: www.decisionresources.com/ www.mrg.net/ healthleaders-interstudy.com/
http://www.castaneapartners.com/
http://www.bostonventures.com/
