Tocris Bioscience Completes MBO

11th January 2007 - Prominent life science company Tocris Bioscience (Bristol, UK) has today announced the successful completion of a $40 million management buy out (MBO) deal.

Backed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the MBO will provide Tocris with the ability and freedom to further develop its existing business areas and to offer additional products and services to its international client base.

Tocris will continue to be led by existing directors Laurence Ede (Managing Director) and Andrew Birnie (Finance Director), together with Tony Kenny of Momentum Corporate Finance who joins the board as Chairman. Notably, Tocris' managers have also taken significant equity stakes themselves, illustrative of the entire workforce's commitment to the business.

"The MBO represents the next major step in our plan to make Tocris the undisputed supplier of choice in the life science sector and ensures that as we grow, the Tocris brand will continue to be synonymous with great-value products of unparalleled quality and efficacy," explained Laurence Ede.

Andrew Birnie added "This deal gives us the opportunity to fully realize Tocris extraordinary potential and I look forward to working with the team to make that happen. Not only is this a tremendous result for the company, but also for all those who share our independent spirit and absolute dedication to life science."

The team was advised throughout by Momentum Corporate Finance LLP and Burges Salmon LLP and the MBO was concluded with the full support of the outgoing founder-shareholder group.

Momentum Corporate Finance

Momentum Corporate Finance LLP (momentumcf.com) was formed in 2005 by partners, Tony Kenny and Rob Crews, both previously senior corporate financiers with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Tony Kenny led PwC's corporate finance business in the West & Wales region and their technology corporate finance business in London.

Momentum acts for entrepreneurial businesses, concentrating on mid-market transactions, mostly in the £5 million to £100 million range. The business is based in Bristol, UK, but also has offices in London's Covent Garden and Park Avenue in New York.