GTCR Forms Maravai Life Sciences With Two Industry Veterans

GTCR, a leading private equity firm, today announced that it has entered into a partnership with Carl Hull and Eric Tardif to form Maravai Life Sciences Inc. The new company, headquartered in San Diego, Calif., will focus on acquiring companies and products in the diagnostics and life sciences industry as part of a strategy to build a market leading healthcare business. GTCR will invest up to $300 million of equity capital to support management’s strategy.

Hull is a 30-year veteran of the diagnostic and life sciences industry. Prior to partnering with GTCR, he was CEO of Gen-Probe Inc., a molecular diagnostic company. While at Gen-Probe, Hull led a strategic transformation that focused the company’s resources on its core growth areas of clinical diagnostics and laboratory automation. His leadership helped reposition the business for commercial growth, culminating in the eventual sale of Gen-Probe to Hologic for $3.7 billion. Prior to his time at Gen-Probe, Hull held a number of executive roles at various diagnostics and life sciences companies, including Applied Biosystems, Ventana Medical Systems Inc. and Abbott Laboratories.

“I am thrilled about the opportunity to work with GTCR to build Maravai into an industry leader in the diagnostics and life sciences space,” said Hull. “The firm has a long history of backing experienced CEOs and providing them with the resources and support to build successful companies through both organic growth and acquisitions. GTCR has been actively evaluating opportunities and developing a unique expertise in diagnostics and life sciences. With our partnership, Maravai is well positioned to benefit from the firm’s deep domain knowledge and expertise.”

Tardif joined Hull at Gen-Probe as senior vice president after spending more than a decade covering life sciences clients at Morgan Stanley and other firms. At Gen-Probe, Tardif was responsible for establishing corporate strategy, evaluating and executing all mergers and acquisitions, including Gen-Probe’s sale to Hologic, and leading the integration efforts for the acquired companies.

“We are very excited to partner with Carl and Eric to build a leading company in the diagnostics and life sciences industry,” said GTCR Managing Director Dean Mihas. “They have exceptional track records of thoughtful leadership and value creation. Their expertise, strategic vision and operational abilities make them ideal partners as GTCR commits to a platform in this attractive industry.”

GTCR’s investment in Maravai will be made from GTCR Fund X LP, a private equity fund with $3.25 billion of equity capital commitments.

“GTCR’s formation of Maravai demonstrates our interest in investing additional capital in a dynamic and growing segment of healthcare,” added Ben Daverman, Vice President at GTCR. “We are actively looking for acquisitions and believe there will continue to be a number of compelling investment opportunities in the market. Working with Maravai, we are in a unique position to evaluate and pursue these investments.”

Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Financial Services and Technology, Healthcare, and Information Services and Technology industries. The Chicago, Ill.-based firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy –– finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $10 billion in more than 200 companies.