DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Constella Group, a rapidly growing human health professional services company, today announced that it has secured its first ever institutional equity financing since its founding in 1983. Leading the investment in the Durham-based company is Wachovia Capital Partners with Wakefield Group participating.
Constella said it will use the $61 million in equity and debt capital to expand services to its public- and private-sector clients and to grow its market presence across the health-care value chain through acquisitions within the U.S. and abroad. Effective Jan. 12, Constella acquired Futures Group, Inc., a preeminent international leader in providing public health programs for developing countries. The purchase nearly doubled the size and revenues of Constella, and expanded its capabilities and professional services in more than 55 other countries.
“We are very excited about this new partnership with both of these prominent investment groups,” said Constella Chairman and CEO Donald A. Holzworth, who retains majority ownership of the company he founded. “We plan to use this growth capital to substantially expand our impact on human health around the world every day. For our clients, this means Constella will have a global reach and even greater capacity to deliver integrated solutions to the complex problems our clients are trying to solve.”
As part of the financing, Constella’s board of directors will expand to include representatives from both Charlotte, N.C.-based investment firms. “Our investors’ insight into the health-care markets and their wide-ranging network of contacts will add tremendous value to Constella,” Holzworth said.
Frederick W. Eubank II, a partner with Wachovia Capital Partners, said, “We are extremely pleased to be supporting Don and his exceptional management team as they continue to build a strong platform of professional, scientific and technology services to help governmental and commercial clients address public health needs of major significance worldwide.”
“Our firm invests only in companies possessing ‘change-the-world’ growth potential in select industry segments, such as health care and information technology,” said Steve Nelson, a Wakefield Group partner who heads up the firm’s Research Triangle Park, N.C., office. “Constella is truly one of those rare companies. We are very impressed by its ambitious goals and its stellar record of performance, both financially and in its services to high-profile federal and commercial customers.”
Constella is a preeminent provider of outsourced health services and solutions, creating actionable health intelligence to help its public-sector, commercial and nonprofit clients address critical global health issues such as HIV/AIDS, public health preparedness, maternal and child health, family planning and reproductive health, environmental health, and occupational safety and health. In addressing these issues, Constella delivers comprehensive health solutions in program management, policy and planning, technology, research, communications, and technical assistance and training.
Holzworth said he began looking for investment partners this past June with the help of Townsend Frew, the health-care practice of Edgeview Partners, an investment bank based in Charlotte. As a result, Constella received inquiries from more than 30 private equity groups across the country before narrowing its choices to WCP and Wakefield Group.
Wachovia Capital Partners is the private equity and mezzanine investing practice of Wachovia Corporation, the nation’s fourth largest bank holding company. Founded in 1988, Wakefield Group is a leading venture capital firm in the Southeast. It invests in growth companies, emphasizing both information technology and health care.
Constella Group is a leading provider of professional health services worldwide with 1,100 employees dedicated to enhancing human health through innovative science, technology and knowledge solutions. For more information, visit http://www.constellagroup.com/ and http://www.futuresgroup.com/ .
Constella Group
CONTACT: Katherine Smart of Constella Group, +1-919-313-7612