Chopra Joins Pharma Group to Drive M&A

Pharma services group P\S\L has appointed former Synovate M&A leader Peter Chopra to a newly created position, Chief Strategy Officer. Research companies are likely to be among its initial acquisition targets.

P\S\L is a global group devoted to medical information services, aiming to 'improve medical care by serving those who need it, those who provide it and those who seek to improve it.' Clients include research-based pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare institutions. The Group's rise to its current nine-figure revenue has been phenomenal, with double-digit growth in 31 of the past 35 years, and over 30% growth in most of them.

Executive Chairman Robert Bisaillon says Chopra's appointment marks a new approach: 'This success story has until now been achieved through purely organic growth. Peter's appointment signals our intent to not only maintain our rate of growth, but to add targeted M&A activity to our growth strategies.'

A 'Big 4' trained Chartered Accountant and qualified barrister, Chopra will be based in the Group's UK office in Davies Street, London W1. At Aegis he led Synovate's aggressive acquisition program as CFO, also serving as CEO of Synovate UK and Deputy CFO of the wider Group. He is also a founder of Verve, Great Outcomes and Pharmagems. In total he brings around eighteen years of experience in market research and marketing services, including more than fifty M&A transactions.

Chopra told DRNO that P\S\L held out the enticing and rare prospect of a large but still fast-growing private company with real ambition, not in private equity hands. He will maintain some involvement with Verve and Pharmagems, keeping his shareholdings and offering advice in an NED role.

The Group includes two specific research arms, testing and tracking specialist P\S\L Research and online fieldwork provider Medefield. Predictably given his background, Chopra confirms that MR will be one of the fields high on the list for initial acquisition activity. He will also help to develop strategies for organic growth.

P\S\L CEO Michele Fearon says Chopra's contribution will cover both group-wide and business-specific strategies. He comments: 'We now have businesses active in five domains with offices spanning North America, Europe and Asia. The wealth of Peter's industry knowledge, operational skills, geographic experience and leadership strengths will be invaluable as we tackle the challenges invariably brought about by success of the scale we pursue.'

Web sites: www.pslgroup.com , www.pslresearch.com and www.medefield.com .