NEW YORK (AP) — InVentiv Health is being acquired by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners for $1.1 billion, the pharmaceutical support company said Friday.

The announcement brings to a close months of buyout talks.

The companies announced the agreement after the markets closed on Thursday. The deal values inVentiv stock at $26 per share. Based on inVentiv’s closing price on March 25, the day before it confirmed it was in talks with a potential buyer, that’s a premium of 52 percent.

The company provides services for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. It has struggled during the economic slump.

Shares of InVentiv Health Inc. have traded between $11.42 and $25.30 over the last year, and last reached $26 in July 2008. The stock closed at $23.92 Thursday, and in premarket trading, it rose $1.34, or 5.6 percent, to $25.26.

The sale is expected to close in the third quarter, pending approval from regulators.

The Somerset, N.J., company also reported its first-quarter results Thursday afternoon. Inventiv said its profit rose 28 percent, to $10.2 million, or 30 cents per share, from $7.9 million, or 24 cents per share. Revenue increased 5 percent, to $269.4 million from $257.7 million a year ago.

The company said it earned 33 cents per share if one-time items are excluded. Thomson Reuters says analysts had expected a profit of 26 cents per share and $272.1 million in revenue.

Revenue at the company’s commercial business fell 10 percent to $96.6 million as inVentiv laid off some of its sales representatives. Communications revenue rose 24 percent to $88.1 million, and clinical business grew 5 percent to $54 million. Patient outcomes revenue increased 7 percent to $30.7 million.