(Reuters) - Blackstone Group on Thursday said it would acquire global life sciences investment firm Clarus for an undisclosed amount, as the investment manager pushes deeper into the healthcare sector.
The deal comes weeks after Blackstone, the world's largest manager of alternative investments, said http://bit.ly/2NsEHbT that advancements in life sciences created "unprecedented" investment opportunities, especially since big pharmaceutical companies have been pulling back on research funding as their earnings come under pressure.
Blackstone said it has invested over $19 billion in health care across more than 40 deals. The company said the transaction will fill a critical void in the healthcare industry.
Blackstone expects to close the deal in the fourth quarter of 2018, after which, Nick Galakatos, the co-founder of Clarus, will become the head of Blackstone's life sciences unit.
(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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