Pamplona Capital Management nears deal to buy Parexel - WSJ

(Reuters) - Private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management is nearing a deal to buy contract drug research firm Parexel International Corp for $4.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Pamplona is set to pay $88.10 a share in cash as part of the deal, the newspaper said citing people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/2slumT7)

Activist investor Starboard Value LP reported a 5.7 percent stake in Parexel in May, saying the company's shares were "undervalued" and represented an attractive investment opportunity.

Corvex Management LP, another prominent activist investor, owns a significant stake in Parexel as well, sources told Reuters in May, and also believes the company should sell itself.

Up to Monday's close, shares of Parexel had risen nearly 22 percent since reports in early May that the company was exploring a sale.

Pamplona and Parexel were not immediately available to comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)