'Business as usual:' Amid sale, PPD to keep its footprint in downtown Wilmington
The sale of Wilmington-based clinical research firm PPD is official.
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. announced Wednesday that it's finalized the purchase of PPD for $17.4 billion, according to a press release from the company.
Thermo Fisher Scientific announced its plans to buy PPD and take on approximately $3 billion of the company's debt back in April. That debt is set to retire as part of the deal, the release stated.
Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific is a "world leader in serving science," according to the release. The company supplies a range of scientific instruments and other products to those working in scientific fields.
With the acquisition, PPD will become part of Thermo Fisher's Laboratory Products and Services Segment.
More: PPD to be sold for $17.4 billion to Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific
"We are very excited to officially welcome our PPD colleagues to Thermo Fisher Scientific," Marc Casper, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific, wrote in the release.
"Expanding our value proposition for our biotech and pharmaceutical customers with the addition of PPD's leading clinical research services advances our work in bringing life-changing therapies to market, benefitting patients around the world."
With the deal now closed, PPD's footprint in downtown Wilmington is not set to change, according to a company spokesperson.
"It is business as usual, and there are no changes in locations or facilities planned," the spokesperson wrote in an email to the StarNews.
With approximately 1,800 employees in the area, PPD is one of Wilmington's largest private employers. Its 12-story headquarters has served as a business anchor on the northern end of downtown since it was built in 2007.
However, there will be some shifts in personnel.
David Johnston, who previously served as PPD's executive vice president and global head of clinical development services, will join Thermo Fisher Scientific's leadership team as a senior vice president and president of clinical research services, according to the company spokesperson.
PPD is a contract research organization that supports pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other medical-based businesses by providing them with research services, such as helping them develop and trial new drugs.
The acquisition is expected to contribute $1.50 to Thermo Fisher's adjusted earnings per share in 2022. PPD stock was pulled from the Nasdaq before trading began Wednesday, the press release stated.
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Thermo Fisher has 100,000 employees worldwide and an annual revenue of approximately $40 billion. In North Carolina, the company has 1,500 employees at a medicine production and packaging complex in Greenville. The company announced a $500 million investment in the facility last year, adding 500 new jobs.
Thermo Fisher also has approximately 700 employees in western North Carolina at locations in Asheville and Weaverville.
Currently, the clinical research services industry is in "high-growth mode," according to the company spokesperson.
With the addition of PPD, Thermo Fisher will be able to expand its offerings to include "services across the clinical development spectrum, including scientific discovery, to assessing safety, efficacy, and health care outcomes, to managing clinical trial logistics, to the development and manufacturing of the drug product," according to the press release.
Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at 910-343-2096 or edill@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Despite sale, PPD set to keep building in downtown Wilmington
