ApaTech, a specialist in bone repair technology, is to be sold for up to $330 million (£220 million) in a big win for its investors.
ApaTech, a specialist in bone repair technology, is to be sold for up to $330 million (£220 million) in a big win for its investors.
Since it was formed in 2001, the company has raised a total of $60 million from backers including private equity firms 3i and MTI. Its largest shareholder is now Encore Ventures, a division of DFJ Esprit, which will also exit the company following the sale.
The acquirer of ApaTech is US healthcare group Baxter, which has global sales of $3.5 billion, up 11 per cent from the previous year, and profits of $715 million.
Ron Lloyd, vice president and general manager at Baxter, says: ‘This is a significant step in enhancing Baxter’s position in the rapidly growing orthobiologics space.’ He adds that ApaTech’s flagship product, Actifuse, will allow Baxter ‘to immediately enter the emerging bone fusion category’, while the company’s product pipeline is ‘highly complementary’ to the acquirer’s existing biosurgery business.
Baxter will pay an initial $240 million in cash, with additional payments of up to $90 million dependent on sales milestones. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this month, and is not expected to have a material impact on Baxter’s financial results for the current year.
A spin-out from Queen Mary University of London, ApaTech provides synthetic bone materials for orthopedic and dental applications. The company recently opened a £13 million manufacturing facility in Hertfordshire and has offices in Germany and the US. Its revenue has grown from £1 million in 2006 to £40 million last year.
