Bamburgh Capital, the independent corporate finance adviser has advised on the sale of Cheshire-based Cryoniss to laboratory services group Biofortuna.
Based on the Alderley Park life sciences campus and at The Heath Business and Technology Park in Runcorn, Cryoniss is an outsourced managed service provider of temperature-controlled, biological sample storage and cold-chain logistics solutions.
Founded in 2018 by Sonia Houghton and Phil Hargreaves, former senior leaders of the global AstraZeneca cell banking operation, Cryoniss received early stage equity funding from Maven Capital Partners [ and several high net worth investors.
The acquisition of Cryoniss brings expertise and infrastructure in temperature-controlled biological sample storage to Biofortuna, strengthening its existing stability storage capability and accelerating the growth of its controlled-environment storage offering.
Cryoniss specialises in the provision of sample storage and bio-repository solutions at ultra-low and cryogenic conditions for long term storage of biological samples to the global life sciences sector, research institutions and governmental agencies. Applications include academic research, therapeutic drug discovery and diagnostic test development.
Dr Nick Ash, CEO of Deeside-based Biofortuna , which is backed by Foresight said: “Cryoniss is a perfect fit with our existing controlled-environment storage and cell line services business. With customers increasingly looking for single site provision of sample storage and analytical services, Biofortuna is now perfectly positioned to deliver a fully integrated, end-to-end service. I am delighted to welcome the Cryoniss team to Biofortuna.”
Sonia Houghton, co-founder CEO of Cryoniss added: “The acquisition by Biofortuna presents a host of new opportunities. It will allow us to showcase our expert temperature-controlled services to a much wider audience across the life sciences and biotech sectors and enables our customers to access our highly accredited services quickly and efficiently.”
Karen de Meza, Portfolio Director at Maven Capital Partners added “We are proud that we were able to assist Cryoniss with the early stage of its growth journey. The acquisition by Biofortuna presents a symbiotic opportunity for the company in the next phase of its evolution. We wish Sonia and Nick every success for the future. Thanks also to Alex and his team at Bamburgh Capital for their support with this transaction.”
The Bamburgh team advising the company and Maven consisted of Alex Clarkson, Alex Wilson and Krystel Eastman.
Alex Wilson, Associate Director at Bamburgh said: “The Cryoniss team led by Sonia and Phil have done a great job in building the business and are now ready to accelerate their growth as part of a larger corporate, allowing them to offer a wider and deeper service to its clients.
“We were very pleased to work with the team at Maven, who have done a great job in supporting Cryoniss.”
Other advisers included law firm Ward Hadaway. The team included Melanie Yeomans and Matthew Campbell.
