Philadelphia-based PRWT Services Inc. (No. 62 on the BE industrial/service 100 list with $65 million in sales) is expanding its reach with the acquisition of a chemical manufacturing plant from Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck & Co. Inc.
The venture marks a new direction for PRWT, which has primarily offered business process outsourcing and facilities management services. “We saw the opportunity to grow in this rapidly growing healthcare market,” says Skip Lee, executive vice president of business development for life sciences at PRWT.
The plant, which produces active pharmaceutical ingredients, the ingredients that go in antibiotics, is _located in Riverside, Pennsylvania. On Jan.1, it became part of PRWT’s wholly owned _subsidiary, Cherokee Pharmaceuticals L.L.C. While financial details of the sale were not disclosed, Cherokee and Merck have entered into a five-year supply agreement for an estimated $100 million to $200 million per year.
Not only does the acquisition make PRWT the first minority-owned company in the U.S. to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients, but it propels PRWT to another level, Lee says. “It moves our enterprise from being a $77 million business to being close to a $300 million business. It also provides us with a scale and sophistication to be a top player in multiple areas-life sciences, U.S. facilities, and business process out-
sourcing,” he adds.