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Investment Banker·Pharma Services

Tom Cowap

Director, Global Healthcare Investment Banking at Robert W. Baird

London, United Kingdom

TC
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Why they matter

Leads Baird's European pharma services and life sciences tools coverage, giving direct visibility into CDMO/CRO deal flow and founder-backed sponsor relationships across the sector.

Background

Tom Cowap is a Managing Director in Robert W. Baird's Global Healthcare Investment Banking Group in London, covering Pharmaceutical Services and Life Sciences Tools/Diagnostics. He joined Baird in January 2022 as a Director from Alantra, where he spent nine years building the pharma services and life sciences M&A coverage effort for financial sponsors and founder-backed businesses, and was subsequently promoted to Managing Director. He holds a finance degree from Durham University, is an Associate Chartered Accountant, and began his career in PwC's Financial Due Diligence practice.

Notable deals

  • 2020
    Led Alantra's advisory to Synova Capital on its growth investment in Charnwood Molecular, a preclinical CRO spun out of Loughborough University
  • 2021
    Advised Five Arrows Principal Investments (Rothschild & Co) on its investment in Sygnature Discovery, a UK outsourced drug discovery services provider
  • 2021
    Advised the shareholders of Helios Medical Communications on its growth investment from NorthEdge Capital

Call-prep brief

Background

  • MD, Global Healthcare Investment Banking (Pharma Services & Life Sciences Tools/Diagnostics), Robert W. Baird, London
  • Joined Baird Jan 2022 as Director; promoted to MD (2023)
  • Prior: 9 years at Alantra building pharma services/life sciences M&A coverage; started career at PwC (Financial Due Diligence)
  • ACA qualified; finance degree, Durham University; British Army Reserve background (7 Rifles, 4 Yorks)

Current focus

  • Sell-side and buy-side M&A for CDMO, CRO, drug discovery services, and healthcare/medical communications businesses, mostly UK/European founder-backed and sponsor-owned targets
  • Works alongside Baird's Adam Huitt and Nick Bell to build out the global pharma services franchise

What he cares about

  • Deal readiness and positioning for founder-led businesses ahead of a sale/recap process
  • Transaction velocity in pharma services even amid broader biotech funding softness
  • Cross-border (UK/Europe-to-US) buyer introductions, leveraging Baird's US platform

Recent moves

  • Advised on NorthEdge's exit of Helios Global Group to Telemos Capital (Oct 2024) — not independently sourced here, verify directly
  • Public 2024/2025 commentary: cautious optimism on biotech funding recovery, expects real momentum by 2027

Sensitivities

  • Client relationships are confidential pre-mandate; avoid asking him to name active processes
  • He moved firms once already (Alantra→Baird); frame outreach around market views, not recruiting

Questions to ask

  1. Which pharma services subsectors (CDMO, CRO, drug discovery, medical comms) are seeing the strongest multiples right now?
  2. What's driving the gap between biotech funding recovery and services M&A volume?
  3. Which founder-backed platforms is he seeing come to market in the next 6–12 months?

Outreach draft

Subject
Pharma services / CDMO deal flow — quick call?
Hi Tom, I came across your work leading Baird's pharma services and life sciences tools coverage, including the Charnwood Molecular, Sygnature Discovery, and Helios transactions. We're a private equity team actively evaluating opportunities in the CDMO/CRO space and would value your read on current market dynamics — pricing, buyer appetite, and which founder-backed platforms might be coming to market soon. Would you have 20-30 minutes in the next couple of weeks for a call? Happy to work around your schedule, and glad to share what we're seeing on our end in return. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

Sources