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Local Tech Wire

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – is going to sell $400 million in unsecured notes to “provide a return on investment” to shareholders and also is setting up a new holding company parent for the privately held life sciences services and investment company.

David Coman, senior vice president of communications and patient recruitment for Quintiles, spelled out Quintiles’ plans to Local Tech Wire and WRAL.com:

• “Establish a new holding company, Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc., which will be the legal parent of Quintiles Transnational Corp.

• “Make use of positive financial market conditions to raise capital via credit

• “Provide a return on investment to our shareholders largely through the distribution of dividends”

Quintiles is largely owned by TPG Capital and Bain Capital. In 2008, the firms bought the ownership share of One Equity partners for a reported price in excess of $3 billion and became the lead investors in Quintiles.

According to the Wall Street Journal, TPG Capital and Bain Capital will receive the bulk of the bond proceeds.

Dennis Gillings, the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Quintiles, remains an investor and head of the company. Other investors in Quintiles include 3i and Temasek Holdings.

Gillings took Quintiles private in 2003 in a deal valued at $1.7 billion. He worked with One Equity and others on that deal.

“These are all positive events that place us in the best position to continue providing our customers with industry-leading professional services from our 23,000 talented people around the globe,” Coman said.

Asked why Quintiles chose to create a new holding company, Coman explained:

“These actions afford future financial flexibility for Quintiles. Establishing a new holding company represents a change to our legal structure that does not directly affect day-to-day operations.”

The changes “do not constitute any shift in Quintiles’ ownership.”

The moves did not affect Quintiles’ credit rating from either Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s, those firms said Tuesday.

“We don’t expect to make any additional information available at this point about our plans,” Coman added.

Gillings launched the company in 1982 while working as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.