Morristown-based Porzio, Bromberg & Newman sold its compliance technology-focused subsidiary business, Porzio Life Sciences, to a portfolio company owned by private equity firms. RLDatix, a leading global provider of health care governance, risk and compliance software solutions and services, will buy Porzio Life Sciences for an undisclosed amount, according to a Monday announcement from the firm.
Porzio said in a news release that the deal appears to be the first-ever of its kind executed in the legal profession — and the most successful realization yet of a business strategy that has been adopted by many of the world’s largest law firms.
Porzio will continue to maintain a strategic relationship with Porzio Life Sciences after the transaction closes in October.
The two entities will continue to comarket their respective compliance services, and the law firm will continue to offer legal services through its team of life sciences regulatory attorneys based in New Jersey and Massachusetts. Porzio’s lawyers will work closely with Porzio Life Sciences, in which several of the firm’s life sciences lawyers will maintain dual employment arrangements with the law firm and the newly spun-off entity.
Porzio, a full-service, 90-lawyer firm that, in connection with Porzio Life Sciences, represents more than 600 life sciences companies — including many of the industry’s biggest names — is retaining two additional subsidiary businesses. The firm plans to use one subsidiary, Porzio Compliance Services, to continue to incubate additional business and compliance solutions across a range of industries for future opportunities in the legal technology space.
“This is a great day for our firm and our clients,” Vito Gagliardi Jr., the managing principal of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, stated. “Under its new ownership, Porzio Life Sciences will continue to simplify the compliance efforts of pharmaceutical companies and — given our ongoing strategic relationship — complement the legal services we offer. With this transaction, meanwhile, Porzio, Bromberg & Newman has gained new resources to continue developing innovative businesses that solve important problems for our clients.”
John Oroho, the Porzio, Bromberg & Newman lawyer who founded and developed Porzio Life Sciences, will join Porzio Life Sciences under its new ownership as president & general manager, Life Sciences Division, and Porzio Life Sciences will retain its brand.
“The success of Porzio Life Sciences, and the resulting sale, is a testament to what lawyers and law firms can do when they invest in opportunities to better and more efficiently serve their clients,” Oroho said. “Porzio Life Sciences will always be built from the law. I am grateful for the opportunity to have founded and developed this company with Porzio, and I am excited to see how we can continue to grow together in this new relationship.”
Porzio, Bromberg & Newman will continue to operate two subsidiary businesses, Porzio Compliance Services and Porzio Governmental Affairs. Under the Porzio Compliance Services umbrella, the firm will retain another component of its life sciences work — one focused on assisting pharmaceutical companies with distribution and licensing issues. Overseen by Porzio, Bromberg & Newman Principal (and registered pharmacist) Frank Fazio, the Porzio Distribution and Licensing business line will continue securing licenses for pharmaceutical distribution and addressing distribution challenges across the U.S. Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, likewise, will continue to nurture businesses that meet the legal needs of clients in the pharmaceutical industry and beyond.
Fairmount Partners acted as the financial adviser to Porzio and Porzio Life Sciences and Alston & Bird served as legal counsel, along with Porzio Principal David Carlson, who served as in-house counsel.
