Columna Capital acquires majority stake in Evidenze Group from Buenavista Equity Partners
Columna partners with co-founders Pedro Hernández and Albert Gallart to accelerate the Company’s growth and international expansion in the fast-growing European CRO market
5 May 2026 – Columna Capital has signed a binding agreement to acquire a majority interest in Evidenze Group (“Evidenze”, the “Group” or the “Company”), a full-service pan-European outsourced pharma services platform, from Buenavista Equity Partners (“Buenavista”). Columna partners with company co-founders, Pedro Hernández and Albert Gallart (the “Founders”), who will retain a significant minority interest and remain actively involved in the business alongside the broader management team, ensuring full entrepreneurial and operational continuity.
Evidenze was formed in 2020 through the acquisition and integration of four complementary pharma services businesses, with the backing of Buenavista. Since then, the Group has completed six strategic acquisitions, expanded its direct presence across Spain, Germany, Italy and Portugal, and built a network of partners in 11 additional European geographies.
Today, Evidenze operates as a diversified platform across these geographies and three core business lines: Clinical Research Services, Scientific Services, and Digital Health Services. This integrated offering allows Evidenze to support clients across the full drug development value chain, clearly differentiating the Company from its direct competitors. The Group combines deep local knowledge with a pan-European delivery capability, which is increasingly valued by its target customer base. It serves over 270 active clients, including top global and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies, biotech and non-commercial sponsors and employs approximately 400 professionals.
The transaction aligns with Columna’s strategy to invest alongside ambitious entrepreneurs in companies poised for pan-European expansion in defensive, high-growth sectors. Since its inception, Evidenze has successfully executed both organic and inorganic growth strategies, recording a net revenue of €40m in 2025. Columna will collaborate closely with the founders and broader management team, through a disciplined approach to M&A, continued organic growth driven by strong backlog visibility and market share gains and strategic investment in technology, AI capabilities and adjacent high-value services.
Michael Tose, Partner at Columna Capital, commented: "We are excited to be partnering with the exceptional Founders and management team at Evidenze to support the Company on its next stage of growth. Evidenze’s differentiated competitive positioning, strong client focus, deep technological and data capabilities – as well as strong organic growth, profitability and proven M&A capabilities – put the company on track to become the pharma services leader in Europe. This investment underscores our deep commitment to the Spanish market and our broader pan-European healthcare services strategy. As an asset manager founded by entrepreneurs, Columna is excited to partner with Evidenze’s founders to support their vision of expanding their offering across Europe.”
Jaime Bachs Lobo, Managing Director at Columna Capital, added: "We are delighted to partner with the Evidenze team on this landmark investment, which represents a significant milestone for Columna in Spain and further reinforces our healthcare franchise in the region. With a strong track record of transforming national champions into European leaders, we bring deep cross-border M&A expertise to the Group. We look forward to working closely with the founders and management team to deliver a clear value creation strategy through disciplined acquisitions, organic growth, and expansion into adjacent high-value services”
Pedro Hernandez, co-founder of Evidenze, commented: "The partnership with Columna marks an exciting new chapter in the Group's growth trajectory. At the same time, this transaction will give us access to a significant pool of resources and expertise, leveraging the multidisciplinary background of Columna's investment team. The new shareholding structure reflects the strategic continuity of our industrial project, based on innovation, execution capabilities and international ambition."
Albert Gallart, co-founder of Evidenze, added: “Through this transaction, Evidenze will not only benefit from a solid financial partner, but also from Columna's strong entrepreneurial culture and growth expertise. Through this strategic alliance we welcome the ideal partner to accelerate our expansion plans, increase our ability to tackle ambitious projects and seize new growth opportunities in Europe”.
Enrique Centelles, Managing Partner and Head of Private Equity at Buenavista Equity Partners, said: “We are very proud of the work we have done with Evidenze over the years. We launched the Evidenze project with four local niche companies, which we ultimately transformed into a pan-European platform. We completed 10 add-on acquisitions to equip the group with all the capabilities required for its international expansion. Evidenze has become a benchmark in the pharmaceutical sector, not only in the execution of clinical trials, but also in the provision of end-to-end services. We are confident that, in this new phase alongside Columna, the company will continue its successful trajectory.”
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Columna Capital was advised by Pérez-Llorca, as legal adviser, Marlborough Partners as financial adviser, Deloitte as financial, legal and tax due diligence advisers, Candesic as commercial due diligence adviser and Dr Rainel Sánchez de la Rosa as due diligence adviser on technical and operational matters. In Luxembourg, Columna was advised by Dechert as legal adviser and PwC as tax adviser. Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Capza.
Evidenze and its shareholders were advised by Evercore as financial advisor. Buenavista Equity Partners was advised by Evercore as financial adviser, KPMG for due diligence, LEK for commercial due diligence, and DLA as legal adviser. Broseta provided legal advice to the founders.
Columna Capital
Columna Capital is a London-based, pan-European entrepreneurial lower mid-market private equity firm with an investment focus in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland. Founded in 2009 and led by four partners, the Columna team consists of an engaged group of professionals that actively support dedicated management teams and entrepreneurs to drive organic growth and execute on strategic consolidation opportunities. Typically, Columna invests in companies with up to €100 million in revenue and significant growth potential and has a sector focus in (i) healthcare and well-being, (ii) animal health, (iii) financial and business services, as well as (iv) agri-food.
Evidenze
Evidenze is a global company specializing in healthcare knowledge management, offering services in clinical research (CRO), digital health solutions, medical training, consulting, patient support programs, and scientific communication. With expertise in telemedicine, AI-driven analytics, and real-world data, Evidenze supports healthcare innovation by integrating advanced technologies to enhance clinical decision-making and patient care.
Buenavista Equity Partners
Buenavista Equity Partners is an independent investment manager founded in 1996, operating in the middle-market segment. The firm currently manages over €1.2 billion across various Private Equity, Infrastructure, and Venture Capital vehicles.
