A blank-check company backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is in advanced talks to buy a nuclear measurement and analytics company from Charterhouse Capital Partners, according to people familiar with the matter.
GS Acquisition Holdings Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company launched about a year ago, could reach an agreement to acquire Mirion Technologies Inc. as soon as this week, the people said. The deal could value the company at about $2.5 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Negotiations are ongoing, and talks with the SPAC could still drag on longer or fall apart, the people said. Representatives for Charterhouse and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
Mirion provides devices and services for customers who work with nuclear energy — monitoring and measuring radiation and contamination, providing alarms and managing waste, according to its website. Sector applications include nuclear power, healthcare, homeland security and the military.
Charterhouse hired Lazard Ltd. to revive an attempt to sell Mirion earlier this year and attracted interest from blank-check firms as well as buyout funds and companies, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
After initially gauging interest from potential buyers in 2019, Charterhouse decided to keep the asset for longer to expand the business further, according to one of the people. Since then, it’s made a number of acquisitions to expand Mirion’s footprint in the medical sector.
Mirion announced in January that it was buying Sun Nuclear Corp., which manages quality assurance for radiation treatments at cancer centers. It acquired calibration technology firm Capintec Inc. last year. In 2018, it purchased Nuclear Research & Consultancy Group’s dosimetry unit, which makes products used to measure workers’ radiation exposure.
GS Acquisition Holdings Corp. II raised $750 million in its June 2020 initial public offering to scout for a deal, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The SPAC is managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Permanent Capital Strategies team.
Blank-check companies have raised $111 billion globally this year, more than last year’s record $84 billion haul, though the pace of listings has slowed in recent months amid increased regulatory scrutiny and a flood of SPACs seeking deals.
Goldman Sachs has registered a handful of additional entities — including GS Acquisition Holdings Corp. VIII and IX — with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, raising the possibility it will continue to form new SPACs despite the dent in market sentiment.