Danish company Ambu plopped down $265M to acquire Germany-based Invendo Medical, a privately-held medtech company that develops single-use high definition endoscopy products.
Danish company Ambu A/S plopped down $265 million (EUR 225 million) to acquire Germany-based Invendo Medical GmbH, a privately-held medtech company that develops single-use high definition endoscopy products for the field of gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery.
Ambu Chief Executive Officer Lars Marcher said the acquisition of Invendo is a “massive upgrade” of the company’s business potential. In a statement issued this morning, he said Ambu introduced its Ambu aScope, a single-use endoscopy tech for airway procedures. Invendo’s gastroenterology single-use scopes will provide a strong complement, he said. Invendo has developed the world’s first single-use gastrointestinal platform of which the second version of the first product -- a HD colonoscope -- is expected to be approved for use in Europe and clear the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2018.
“This is an important acquisition that puts Ambu in an ideal position to further disrupt the reusable market within endoscopy,” Marcher said in a statement.
Under the terms of the deal, Ambu will pay an upfront fee of $135 million. Additional payments of $82 million and $47 million will be paid based on milestones and FDA clearance. Ambu said it already anticipates paying Invendo $11 million in milestone payments in the current fiscal year following FDA clearance of its endoscope dubbed SC210.
Following Ambu’s announcement, shares of company common stock shot up more than 13 percent on the Copenhagen Exchange. Shares are trading at 578 Kronor.
In its announcement this morning, Ambu said single-use scopes are becoming essential medical tools due to concerns over contamination. Reusable endoscopes can pose a risk to patients due to difficulties in sterilizing the devices between uses, the company said. Single-use devices though are more sanitary. They are removed from the sterile package and ready to use for a patient. They are then disposed of following use. Ambu said single-use scopes “eliminate the risk of device-related infections and -- because they do not require cleaning or repair -- also improve hospital workflows.”
Ambu said its single-use pulmonary endoscopy devices are used in the approximately 5 million annual procedures. By adding the Invendo line to its portfolio, the company will be able to carve out a niche in the gastroenterology field of which there are approximately 70 million annual procedures.
Invendo is based in Kissing, Germany and employs 35 people. There was no mention if all employees will be folded into Ambu or if some layoffs were expected due to redundancy.
Barclays is acting as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of Invendo.
