Milbank LLP advised Ardian on the sale of its majority stake in GBA Group ("GBA"), an international life science and laboratory analytics provider headquartered in Hamburg, to Bridgepoint. Since investing in 2021, Ardian has supported GBA on its organic and external growth path by entering new geographic markets and customer segments, thereby more than doubling the Group's revenue.
Ardian is a leading global private markets investment firm, currently managing or advising on $200 billion in assets for more than 1,920 clients worldwide. The firm invests across private equity, real assets and credit, supported by more than 350 investment professionals across 22 offices globally.
GBA is an international life science service company with more than 3,500 employees and a wide range of analytical, logistical and specialist services in the areas of food, environment, building contaminants, drinking water, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, medical devices and cosmetics. GBA operates in approximately 100 locations across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and other international markets. The majority of this international expansion has occurred since 2021 with Ardian’s support.
The Milbank team that advised Ardian on this transaction was led by partner Leopold Riedl (Corporate/M&A) and included partners Norbert Rieger (Corporate/M&A), Matthias Schell (Tax), Alexander Rinne (Antitrust), Thomas Ingenhoven (Finance), special counsel Sebastian Reiner-Pechtl (Corporate/M&A) and Thomas Moeller (Finance) and associates Lea-Marie Weischede, Christian Kolb, Markus von Lutterotti, Josephine Thiel, Janik Klotzsche, Moritz Jacob (all Corporate/M&A), Nikolas Wolf (Tax), Marlies Zeck, Melanie Buve (both Antitrust), Lara Milione and Robin Braun (both Finance).
