CRO financial results season begins this week amid reports PPD could be sold, with other service providers and private equity viewed as potential bidders. A report in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend quoted anonymous sources who said PPD is considering a sale. Private equity firms and larger contract research organisations (CRO) were both suggested as potential bidders for PPD. Market share estimates by Jefferies & Company put PPD as the third largest CRO, behind Covance and Quintiles. The size of PPD limits the number of CROs that could acquire it, and analysts have doubted the likelihood of CRO mega-mergers, but the WSJ claims it is a possibility.
