A Medical Device Daily

Natus Medical (San Carlos, California) said it has agreed to acquire certain assets from BrainZ Instruments (Auckland, New Zealand), a company that makes products for the bedside brain monitoring of neonates, for about $810,000 (NZD $1.3 million) in cash.

Natus will acquire essentially all trading assets of BrainZ including the BRM2 and BRM3 monitoring devices, RecogniZe acquisition software, associated intellectual property, and branding. Natus will also acquire accounts receivable and inventory, and assume accounts payable and certain other operating liabilities associated with the products, including obligations of BrainZ under various distribution and customer agreements, and obligations in respect of product warranties, product support, and maintenance obligations.

Directors of BrainZ have unanimously recommended the acquisition, which is subject to the approval of BrainZ shareholders. Natus expects to complete the acquisition in early November.

Natus said it believes the acquisition will be accretive to earnings in the first full quarter of ownership, excluding associated one-time charges.

"This acquisition expands our product offering in the newborn brain injury market segment of our pediatric business. We are very excited about the opportunities in this developing field and we believe we can now accelerate the adoption of newborn brain monitoring as a standard of care in the NICU," said Jim Hawkins, president/CEO of Natus. "We believe our worldwide sales and marketing channels will now be able to focus on this market segment in a more effective manner."

"BrainZ has a history of strong product innovation, being the first company to develop and sell two- and three-channel brain monitors for neonates. These products will augment our Olympic CFM product, which is a single-channel bedside monitor. We believe this acquisition affirms our position as the market leader in newborn brain injury diagnosis and treatment," Hawkins added.

The BRM2 brain monitor, BrainZ's first product, is a bedside tool designed to assist in the detection of brain injury and seizure activity in neonates. The BRM2 monitor, and its successor, the BRM3, have received regulatory approval in the major markets, Natus says. The monitors are used in more than 20 countries worldwide.

Natus provides healthcare products used for the screening, detection, treatment, monitoring and tracking of common medical ailments such as hearing impairment, neurological dysfunction, epilepsy, sleep disorders, and newborn care. Product offerings include computerized neurodiagnostic systems for audiology, neurology, polysomnography, and neonatology, as well as newborn care products such as hearing screening systems, phototherapy devices for the treatment of newborn jaundice, head-cooling products for the treatment of brain injury in newborns, and software systems for managing and tracking disorders and diseases for public health laboratories.