Cripps advises on strategic sale of leading UK medical communications agency

Cripps has advised the shareholders of specialist UK-based Ashley Medical Communications Limited (AMC) on its sale to private equity-backed buyer, Hypha Partners LLP.

The transaction marks an exciting new chapter for AMC, which delivers high-impact medical education and communications services to global pharmaceutical and life sciences clients. The deal will support AMC’s continued growth under new ownership, with key members of the senior leadership team remaining in place to drive future expansion.

It also marks the first deal for Hypha, the UK and Ireland lower mid-market investor. Hypha’s funding will be used to grow AMC’s services and reach new clients across the global healthcare sector. In addition, Hypha has bolstered AMC’s leadership, appointing Merle Hall as AMC’s chair, who was previously at Inflexion-backed manufacturer Steripack, and Chris Willoughby as CFO, who was previously at the advertising services business WPP.

Cripps supported the shareholders of AMC through every stage of the sale process, helping to navigate the due diligence process and management buy-out deal structure. The Cripps’ team worked closely with the selling founders, management team and their corporate finance advisers, Crowe, throughout the process.

Chrissie Ashley, majority shareholder at AMC commented:
“Cripps have been superb through the process with their pragmatic advice to achieve a successful conclusion.”

Cath Lavery, CEO at AMC added:
“Thanks again to Cripps for supporting us on this journey, you have all become like colleagues and I will genuinely miss working with you – a delight to work with, professional but friendly.”

Rebecca Glazebrook, corporate partner at Cripps commented: “It’s been a privilege to support the shareholders on this significant deal. This was a complex transaction with many moving parts, but thanks to strong collaboration across all parties, we achieved a great result. We are proud to have played a part in helping the business take this exciting next step and wish the team every success in their future endeavours.”

The Cripps team was led by corporate partner Rebecca Glazebrook and legal director Beth Barns-Graham, with support from Max Lavender-Brown, Emma Brittain, Holly Milne-Peasey, Oliver Parsons and Tariq Sayfoo.

Corporate finance advice was provided by Andy Coghlan, Charlie Copp and Connor Tostevin at Crowe.