- EW Healthcare Partners recently announced it has raised more than $745 million for the EW Healthcare Partners Fund 2a, L.P.
Growth equity firm EW Healthcare Partners announced it has raised more than $745 million for the EW Healthcare Partners Fund 2a, L.P. (together with its parallel fund, “Fund 2”) — which is the firm’s second dedicated growth equity fund.
This raise was above the $650 million target and $200 million above the amount that was raised for Essex Woodlands Fund IX, L.P. (“Fund 1”). Following the strategy established in Fund 1, Fund 2a targets fast-growing commercial-stage healthcare companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and technology-enabled services sectors in the United States and in Europe.
“We are committed to creating value for both our investors as well as our portfolio companies’ shareholders and management teams. Fund 2’s capital will be deployed with the goal of accelerating the revenue growth of burgeoning healthcare companies. We are primarily looking for middle-market companies, with revenues of $20 million to $200 million and the potential to grow at ~20% annual revenue growth rate for several years. We believe our healthcare expertise and team of experienced operating partners and senior advisors provide us with the platform to attract and add value to the types of healthcare companies that Fund 2 is targeting,” said Essex Woodlands Health Ventures managing director and chairman Petri Vainio.
The EW Healthcare Partners team includes several experienced healthcare executives who help identify, work with, and add value to portfolio companies. Some of the executives with pharmaceutical experience include Goran Ando (senior advisor and former Chairman of Novo Nordisk A/S), Lamberto Andreotti (senior advisor and former Chairman of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company), Tom Caskey (senior advisor and former President of the Merck Genome Research Institute), Bryan Morton (operating partner and former CEO and current Chairman of EUSA Pharma Ltd.), and Mike Warmuth (operating partner and former head of the Established Pharmaceuticals Division of Abbott Laboratories).
And the executives with medical device experience include Olivier Bohuon (senior advisor and former CEO of Smith & Nephew plc), Bill Hawkins (senior advisor and former Chairman and CEO of Medtronic Inc.), Guido Neels (operating partner and former COO of Guidant Corporation), and Bob White (operating partner and former CEO of Entellus Medical, Inc.)
“Our approach is hands-on, long-term oriented, highly collaborative and focused on value creation,” added Marty Sutter — the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Firm’s Investment Committee. “Fund 1 successfully invested in several promising healthcare companies, and we look forward to endeavoring to build another portfolio of successful healthcare companies in Fund 2. Our goal is to provide capital that can drive revenue growth by expanding a sales force, expanding the geographic territory or countries where the products are sold, acquiring complementary products or companies, and/or developing and launching new products.”
Along with the closing of Fund 2, Evis Hursever was promoted from Partner to Managing Director at the London office. And Shaunak Parikh was promoted from Principal to Partner at the New York office. Plus Brooks Andrews was promoted from Principal to Partner in the Palo Alto office.
As one of the largest and oldest private healthcare investment firms, EW Healthcare Partners has raised nearly $4 billion since inception. Since being founded in 1985, EW Healthcare Partners has maintained its singular commitment to the healthcare industry and has been a long-term investor in over 150 healthcare companies ranging across sectors and geographies.
