Advent International pursues further Australia, New Zealand healthcare deals

Dixon sees potential to double NZCR annual revenue within five years

Private-equity firm Advent International agreed to acquire a controlling stake in New Zealand Clinical Research from existing shareholders including Auckland-based Waterman Capital in a deal that valued the clinical-research network at about $715 million. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Advent is actively pursuing further healthcare opportunities across the region, according to Beau Dixon, managing director and head of Australia and New Zealand at the Boston-based firm. In an interview in August, Dixon said Advent is evaluating deals beyond the clinical-research sector. “NZCR has its own opportunities for growth. We’re not currently looking at acquisitions that are directly adjacent to that value chain,” Dixon said. “We are looking at other areas in health where we feel that we have the requisite conviction based on prior experience.”

Dixon said he approached Waterman directly after identifying NZCR as a target, completing the transaction without a competitive process. “It remained proprietary, no process, confidential and very, very closely managed,” Dixon said. Advent expects to close the deal in the December quarter.

The firm sees potential to double NZCR’s annual revenue within three to five years of ownership through organic growth alone, Dixon said. There is no firm deadline for the next regional healthcare deal, he added. “There is no time limit on when we could sign the next deal and there’s no specific pressure around that,” Dixon said. “The support is there for these high conviction opportunities.”

The NZCR transaction was the second by Advent’s Australia office, which opened in Sydney in 2024. Boston-based Advent had assets under management totaling $94 billion globally, Dixon said, and its regional teams typically work on pipeline transactions for up to 18 months before closing.

For the NZCR deal, Dixon was assisted by U.S.-based colleagues with healthcare-sector experience drawn from earlier Advent transactions involving pharma-research services provider Syneos Health and biotechnology manufacturer Simtra, he said.

Advent’s broader Asia-Pacific expansion has included an office in Tokyo opened in January 2026, followed five months later by the firm’s first direct investment in Japan, the acquisition of Japan Wellbeing, a provider of home care for the aged.