Ashurst has advised pan-European private equity firm Agilitas on the acquisition of a majority stake in the Ionisos Group, alongside the management, from Naxicap partners.

Ionisos is one of the three largest European sterilisation services providers and the only company in France to offer all three cold sterilisation technologies: gamma rays, beta rays and ethylene oxide.

Since 2007, whilst under the ownership of AtriA and Naxicap, Ionisos began to develop internationally, in particular through a major acquisition in Spain and the opening of a processing plant in China. In order to allow the Group to increase its processing capacity and meet its European objectives, Agilitas has taken over from Naxicap Partners and has provided the group with significant additional equity.

In addition to this investment and with a view to this development, Agilitas has also appointed Jean-Philippe Milon as president of the steering committee for the Ionisos group. He has previously held several management positions within Bayer Schering Pharma AG, and, most recently, has been a member of the global executive committee and senior-vice president in charge of development and acquisitions.

As part of this transaction, ICG provided for a unitranche debt financing mechanism.

Michel Gominet, President of Ionisos, is delighted with this transaction: "Our partnership with Agilitas allows us to strengthen our abilities to serve our clients and assist them with their development. It also allows us to exploit our potential to the maximum and access a wider market."

The Ashurst team was led by corporate partner Bertrand Delaunay, assisted by associates Leslie Batazzi and Sébastien Ouvry on the corporate aspects. Partner Diane Sénéchal, counsel Amanda Bevan and associate Orane Mikolajayk advised on the finance aspects.