Blackstone is working with the management of I¡¯rom Group to take the Japanese pharmaceutical services company private.

A tender offer will be made to acquire I¡¯rom Group shares at ?2,800 per share ¡ª a roughly 50% premium to Monday¡¯s closing price of ?1,873, according to a statement from the company. Pending the offer¡¯s success, I¡¯rom will be delisted and Blackstone will own 55% of the company. The remaining 45% will be held by I¡¯rom founder and President Toyotaka Mori ¡ª a combination of his current ownership and family members¡¯ holdings.

Based on its market capitalization, the offer price values the company at about ?35 billion ($218 million).

Tokyo-based I¡¯rom provides clinical trial management services to pharmaceutical companies that need to run drug trials in Japan ¡ª a routine process in getting medicines approved for sale and use locally.

¡°About 70% of the medicines sold in the U.S. and Europe are not available in Japan because of the problem of drug lag, so we were looking for a company that could help solve this problem,¡± said Atsuhiko Sakamoto, a senior managing director at Blackstone¡¯s Japan office.

Blackstone will help I¡¯rom with new business development, like identifying drugs in late-stage trials in the U.S. and partnering with drugmakers to run trials in Japan to speed up local availability, Sakamoto said. I¡¯rom specializes in oncology drug trials, a segment that is expected to see increased demand given Japan¡¯s aging population.

The New York-based firm aims to hold onto the I¡¯rom investment for five years and exit through a relisting, Sakamoto said. Blackstone approached Mori and worked with him over two years to come to an agreement about the deal. Mori will stay on as chief executive officer after I¡¯rom goes private.

The number of management buyouts in Japan reached a record last year, providing opportunities for private equity investors.

The I¡¯rom deal comes five months after Blackstone said it would acquire a payment service provider from Sony Group. Blackstone¡¯s other private equity portfolio companies in Japan are in the health care segment: Ayumi Pharmaceutical and Alinamin Pharmaceutical.