Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has advised GHO Capital Partners LLP (“GHO”), the European specialist investor in healthcare, in its second fund, GHO Capital Fund II LP (“the Fund” or “Fund II”), which has reached a hard cap of €975 million.

According to Preqin data, the Fund represents the largest specialist private equity fund dedicated to European healthcare.

Approximately 50% larger than the firm’s maiden fund raised in 2015, Fund II is significantly oversubscribed, exceeding a target of €800 million. Since it was founded in 2014, GHO has grown its total assets under management to €2 billion, making it Europe’s largest healthcare-dedicated investment firm.

The Fund aims to develop the significant untapped market opportunity within specialist, high-growth healthcare subsectors, including pharma, medtech and outsourced services, through growth buyout investments. The target market is underpinned by strong structural drivers characterised by widespread demand for better, faster and more accessible healthcare.  

Fund II has already made two investments in Q1 2019, investing alongside management in Sterling Pharma Solutions, a leading provider of small molecule API development and manufacturing services to the global pharmaceutical industry, as well as in BioAgilytix, an independent global provider of large molecule bioanalytical testing solutions.

The Debevoise team advising  GHO was led by London partner Geoffrey Kittredge and international counsel Delphine Jaugey, and included associates Alexander Clarke and Kay Hunter. Tax advice was provided by London partners Richard Ward and Matthew D. Saronson, as well as associates Heather Atkins and Patrick Fasoro.