Stout has advised Commissioning Agents, Inc. (“CAI” or the “Company”), formerly a 100% ESOP owned company, on its sale to JLL Partners. Stout served as exclusive sell-side financial advisor to CAI in connection with the transaction, which closed in July 2026.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, CAI is a leading global provider of commissioning, qualification, and validation (CQV) and related testing, inspection, certification, and compliance (TICC) services to pharmaceutical and data center end markets. With 30 years of operating history and a global delivery footprint, the Company supports complex, highly regulated infrastructure for a blue-chip customer base of leading pharmaceutical manufacturers and data center operators.

JLL Partners is a New York-based middle-market private equity firm with deep healthcare expertise built across multiple fund cycles. JLL Partners has invested and committed over $7 billion of capital across 59+ platform investments throughout its 35+ year history. The acquisition of CAI expands JLL’s healthcare platform supporting regulated pharmaceutical manufacturing and high-growth data center infrastructure end markets.

Tom Concklin, Director at Stout, said, “CAI has built an exceptional platform over the past 30 years. This partnership with JLL provides the resources to accelerate future growth, and we are confident it will strengthen CAI's position in the market. We are proud to have advised CAI through this process and look forward to watching the company thrive.”

Tony Crisman, Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at Stout, said, “We were proud to bring the full suite of Stout solutions to support CAI, a CQV market leader, in its assessment of capital alternatives to unlock its growth strategy, identification of optimal capital partners, and ultimately the execution of a tailored transaction process.”