Burbank, CA — Micro Quality Labs, Inc. ("MQL" or the "Company"), a leading analytical testing laboratory, has been acquired by Certified Laboratories, Inc. ("Certified Laboratories"), a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus LLC ("Warburg Pincus").
Under the leadership of President Karine Aylozyan and Vice President Karo Aylozyan, MQL has become recognized as a trusted resource for technical, regulatory, and quality needs across a variety of sectors. They both remain with the Company as part of the leadership team. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Legacy FocalPoint Partners, LLC, now B. Riley Securities ("B. Riley"), served as exclusive financial advisor to the Company.
Founded in 2003 and located in Burbank, California, MQL provides best-in-class, highly technical testing services for evaluating the safety, identity, composition, authenticity, origin, traceability, and purity of biological substances and products in the cosmetics and personal care, nutritional, and pharmaceutical industries. MQL's unique consultative approach, superior analytical, stability, and microbiology testing services, combined with an intense focus on quality, accuracy, and control, has garnered an industry leading reputation and allowed the Company to comprehensively address the testing needs of more than 1,000 customers worldwide.
Karine Aylozyan, Founder and President of MQL, commented, "We are excited about this new partnership with Certified Laboratories. MQL has been a family-owned business since it was established in 2003. Establishing and growing MQL was my passion and remains my passion for the many years to come. The decision to partner with Certified Laboratories was a great match since they too have been a family-owned business for more than 90 years and understand the importance of providing the highest quality standards with exceptional customer service. Our passion remains focused on providing the highest testing capabilities to support the ever-growing needs of the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, nutritional, and now food industries for our clients."
Steven Mitchell, CEO of Certified Group, commented, "The addition of MQL to the Certified family of companies further expands our North American platform and footprint for testing food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and skin care and delivers one of the widest breadths of analysis available. This continues our mission of bridging science with service and delivering a total solution to our clients. We are thrilled to welcome both the MQL team and their valued clients to the Certified family which also includes, EAS Consulting, Labstat, Labs-Mart, and ABC Testing along with Certified Laboratories."
Nishen Radia, Co-Head of M&A for B. Riley, said, "We are thrilled to have assisted MQL and the Aylozyan family, who have built an incredible business over the years. We congratulate Certified Laboratories and Warburg Pincus on their acquisition of MQL and are excited to see the growth of this new partnership. This transaction represents a hallmark tombstone for [B. Riley's] Business Services practice and Beauty and Personal Care group. We continue to see strong levels of investor appetite for exposure to these industries."
About Micro Quality Labs
Micro Quality Labs, located in Burbank, California, is an ISO 17025 accredited analytical testing laboratory, providing state-of-the-art analytical and microbiological analyses to the cosmetics and personal care, nutritional, and pharmaceutical industries. Serving a customer base of more than 1,000 of the world's largest manufacturers, marketers, and retailers of consumer products, vitamins & dietary supplements, and pharmaceuticals, MQL uses precision lab testing methods to evaluate the composition, sterility, and stability of these products. MQL is registered with the U.S. FDA and Health Canada, and its methods are validated and accredited by numerous organizations, including USP, ISO, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. For more information, please visit www.microqualitylabs.com.
About Certified Laboratories
Certified Laboratories, Inc. provides laboratory testing services for the food industry. It offers microbiological and chemical / instrumentation testing services for food processing at various stages of production, including environmental testing, problem solving, and quality assurance. The company also provides product sampling, method development, validation protocols and sampling, sample pickup, nutritional analysis, and regulatory guidance services. It serves agriculture, dairy, import, juice, meat, pharmaceutical, refrigerated / frozen foods, seafood, and spice industries. Certified Laboratories, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is based in Melville, New York. The company has additional laboratories in Turlock and Buena Park, California and Aurora, Illinois. For more information, please visit www.certified-laboratories.com.
About Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $53 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 185 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 19 private equity funds which have invested more than $84 billion in over 900 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York, with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com.
B. Riley Securities is a leading investment bank that provides a full suite of investment banking, corporate finance, advisory, research, and sales and trading services. Investment banking services include initial, secondary, and follow-on offerings, institutional private placements, merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory, SPACs, corporate restructuring, and recapitalization. The firm is nationally recognized and highly ranked for its proprietary small-cap equity research. B. Riley Securities is a wholly owned subsidiary of B. Riley Financial. For more information, visit brileysecurities.com.
Please contact Nishen Radia, Co-Head of M&A, at 310-405-7040 with any questions regarding this transaction.