Data spotlight: Sale of Vantage Oncology leads VC-backed M&A in April

The venture-backed M&A tally increased in April over March, thanks to Vantage Oncology being acquired by McKesson Specialty Health for more than $1.2 billion.

Vantage, which develops and operates radiation oncology treatment centers, had raised $114.5 million in funding from investors including Ares Management, Meritech Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Oak Hill Capital Partners, Salix Ventures and Versant Ventures.

Overall, April saw 26 venture-backed U.S.-based companies announce acquisitions, compared with 23 in March.

Seven of the April deals had disclosed transaction values, which combined to about $3.3 billion. That’s up more than 22 percent from $2.7 billion in total value in March based on eight deals with terms disclosed, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

Not included in the April M&A tally from Thomson Reuters is the pending acquisition of venture-backed Stemcentrx by AbbVie Inc. The deal is valued at about $5.8 billion, including $2 billion cash and the rest in stock. Stemcentrx is also eligible to receive about $4 billion of cash milestone payments, potentially bringing the total value to near $10 billion.

But at least three venture-backed biotech companies were acquired in April: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co bought Padlock Therapeutics, which focuses on autoimmune diseases, for $600 million; Dechra Pharmaceuticals purchased veterinary-pharmaceutical company Putney for $200 million; and Allergan acquired clinical-stage biotech Topokine Therapeutics for $85 million.

Also in April, at least two cybersecurity companies were scooped up. Alert Logic acquired security-analytics company Click Security, and Cryptosoft bought DeviceAuthority, which focuses on IoT devices. Terms of those deals weren’t disclosed.

Downloadable Data: Venture-backed M&A (April 2016)

Photo of counting out cash courtesy of Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus