Danish medtech Coloplast has agreed to acquire voice box maker Atos Medical for 2.15 billion euros, or about $2.49 billion.
That deal represents a healthy return for Atos’ private equity owner, Paris-based PAI Partners, which bought the Swedish company back in 2016 for about 850 million euros. Coloplast describes Atos as an international market leader in the field of laryngectomy and a potential route to a new chronic care business.
Founded in 1986, Atos has been producing prosthetic voice boxes for over 30 years, designed for patients who have had their larynx surgically removed due to cancer or other conditions.
The company introduced an updated version of its Provox device in 2014, which helped users to speak hands-free. Since then, it has launched a smartphone app for voice rehabilitation exercises as well as devices designed for pediatric cases.
After the closure of the deal, which is slated for early 2022, Coloplast plans to run Atos as a separate strategic unit and brand; however, the company will operate on a shared business infrastructure that also supports Coloplast’s offerings in urology, continence and wound care, according to a statement.
Atos recently completed an acquisition of its own—nabbing three companies in one—to diversify into products for patients who have received a tube placed in their windpipe.
A deal was finalized last month for the German tracheostomy group TRACOE medical, which also oversees the Netherlands-based airway management developer MC Europe, and Kapitex, a U.K. manufacturer and distributor of medical devices for people with trouble swallowing.
“I am convinced that combining our companies will strengthen our ability to fast track the journey towards becoming a full range global player in the tracheostomy segment through a combined hospital and direct-to-consumer model and with a strong production footprint in Sweden and Germany,” Atos CEO Britt Meelby Jensen said in a statement when the deals closed Oct. 1.
The sale to Coloplast follows a report from Reuters this past summer that Atos Medical was gearing up to go public, potentially aiming for a 2 billion euro valuation.
“It has been very rewarding to be able to support Atos Medical’s growth in the last few years, with the company more than doubling in size and transforming into a true direct-to-consumer medtech company,” said Andreas Kumeth, partner at PAI. “We are also proud to have played a role in helping Atos Medical establish further specialities and become a more diversified ENT specialist.”
by Conor Hale
Source: fiercebiotech.com
Giovanni Caforio, the former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, is set to become the next board chairman of Novartis, which on Tuesday proposed the pharmaceutical industry veteran as its pick to replace Joerg Reinhardt in the role next year. Reinhardt has served as Novartis’ chair since 2013 and plans to retire when his 12-year term ends in 2025.
GE HealthCare has raised the curtain on two ultrasound systems equipped with artificial intelligence programs designed to assist in diagnosing conditions in women’s health, including obstetric exams. The Voluson Signature 20 and 18 imaging systems include AI tools capable of automatically identifying and annotating measurements of fetal anatomy.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry have revealed a new sustainable method of manufacturing complex molecules that could reduce waste produced during drug production. The method published in Nature Chemistry could help to prevent severe side effects caused by drugs that can exist as enantiomers.
