LSBio Acquires Absolute Antibody Ltd.
In December, LSBio (LSBio™), a leading provider of antibodies and life science research reagents, announced its acquisition of Redcar, UK-based Absolute Antibody, Ltd. and its sister company Kerafast. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
LSBio provides IHC-validated reagent antibodies and services to the global community of academic, pharmaceutical and biotech researchers. The Company has built a catalog of more than 750,000 reagent antibodies, assay kits, proteins, and biochemicals, and its acquisition of Absolute Antibody and Kerafast further expands its product portfolio by adding a range of unique reagents and antibody services.
Absolute Antibody specializes in recombinant antibody technology, offering antibody sequencing, engineering and recombinant production as custom services, as well as a unique catalog of recombinant antibodies and Fc Fusion proteins, engineered into new and useful formats. In 2018, Absolute Antibody merged with Kerafast Inc., a Boston-based company that facilitates access to unique laboratory-made reagents, to further the availability of recombinant antibodies. The new acquisition combines a strong recombinant antibody portfolio with LSBio’s expertise in application-specific validation to make sequence-defined, reproducible antibodies more widely available for IHC and other key research applications.
“We are very excited to add Absolute Antibody and Kerafast into the LSBio family of companies,” said Dr. Heather Holemon, CEO of LSBio. “It provides an opportunity to offer more to our customers by adding their recombinant antibody production and engineering capabilities as well as their highly complementary product portfolio. This transaction aligns with our goal of providing researchers access to what they are asking for as far as superior consistency and better validation.”
“We are delighted to be joining forces with the LSBio team,” said Dr. Nicholas Hutchings, founder and CEO of Absolute Antibody. “Absolute Antibody was founded with a vision to make engineered recombinant antibodies accessible to all, and we have grown rapidly as the demand for recombinant antibody technology has increased. That vision remains and working with LSBio enables us to continue growing both the recombinant antibody catalog and our custom services, while still delivering the highest level of product quality and customer satisfaction.”
The acquisition marks the latest investment by LSBio to rapidly build its product portfolio. In 2019, LSBio acquired both Nordic-MUbio and Everest Biotech to strengthen the Company’s offering of proprietary monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. All LSBio companies currently retain their independent names, websites and employees, with the entire family of companies owned by St. Louis-based private equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners.
Absolute Antibody, Ltd. were advised by Pivotal Scientific Limited, a specialist Mergers and Acquisitions business based in Oxford, UK & Clark Holt, a specialist law firm based in Swindon UK.
About LSBio
LSBio (www.lsbio.com) enables researchers by providing a variety of antibodies and research reagents. Previous acquisitions of Nordic-MUbio and Everest Biotech have strengthened the company’s offering of proprietary monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. The continued emphasis for LSBio has been on building the portfolio and coupling that with application-specific antibody validation. Through ongoing in-house testing, over 15,000 of the LSBio antibodies have been identified as exceptional IHC reagents and given the IHC-plus™ brand. LSBio itself was acquired by Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP) in 2018.
About Absolute Antibody
Absolute Antibody (www.absoluteantibody.com) was founded in 2012, with the vision to make engineered recombinant antibodies available to all. The company offers antibody sequencing, engineering and recombinant production as custom services, as well as a unique catalog of engineered recombinant antibodies. Absolute Antibody customers include leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics companies, as well as academic researchers in more than 60 different countries worldwide.
About Kerafast
Kerafast, Inc. (www.kerafast.com) is a reagent company whose primary mission is to make unique laboratory-made research tools easily accessible to the global scientific community. Since its founding in 2011, Kerafast has partnered with more than 190 academic research institutions internationally and provided reagents to scientists in 63 countries across six continents. In 2018, Kerafast merged with Absolute Antibody, a company specializing in recombinant antibody technology, to further improve the selection of research tools available to the scientific community.
About TSCP
Thompson Street Capital Partners is a St. Louis-based private equity firm focused on investing in founder-led middle market businesses. TSCP has acquired more than 150 companies in the Healthcare & Life Science Services, Software & Technology Services and Business Services & Engineered Products sectors and have managed more than $2.6 billion since being founded in 2000. TSCP partners with management teams to increase value by accelerating growth, both organically and via complementary acquisitions.