The High Bid That Wasn't
Last summer, Boston Scientific agreed to sell a portfolio of 53 venture capital investments to Saints Capital for approximately $100 million. It was the largest-ever direct secondary sale of healthcare interests, but peHUB has learned that the process was almost derailed by a separate suitor that didn’t have the money to back up its offer. That bidder was Omega Funds, a healthcare-focused direct secondaries shop with offices in Boston and Switzerland. Kind of ironically, Omega Funds is actually a fundless sponsor, which means that it doesn't have an existing pool of capital from which to draw. The firm is currently embroiled in a legal tête-à-tête with some of its former employees and advisors – it’s sued them for alleged breaches of noncompete agreements – which is where details of the busted Boston Scientific bid first emerged. In a response to Omega’s original complaint, defendants Nessan Bermingham and Arthur Rosenthal both submitted affidavits claiming that Omega boss Ottello Stampacchia had claimed that Omega had “oversubscribed” financing commitments to purchase the Boston Scientific direct portfolio (an indirect portfolio of LP interests was sold separately to Paul Capital). They both also say that those representations proved to be false.
