Pamplona Capital to take Parexel private in $5B cash deal

Parexel is being acquired by Pamplona Capital Management in a $5 billion deal that will make the pharmaceutical contract researcher a private company.

The private equity fund manager said Tuesday that it will pay $88.10 for each share, which represents a nearly 28 percent premium to the company's stock price in early May before speculation about the deal first began to rise.

Shares of Parexel jumped more than 4 percent, to $87.60, before the opening bell.

Parexel International Corp., based in Waltham, Massachusetts, provides clinical research, technology consulting and medical communications to the drug and medical device industries.

Parexel's board has unanimously approved the deal, but shareholders still have to vote on it. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter.