A Medical Device Daily
Exactech (Gainesville, Florida), a developer of bone and joint restoration products for hip, knee, shoulder, spine and biologic materials, reported closing the acquisition of the stock and assets of France Medica (Issy Les Moulineaux, France), an importer and distributor of orthopedic products and surgical supplies.
The estimated purchase price of $11.1 million is based on performance-based earn-out payments over the next two years. At closing, $8.3 million of the purchase price was paid with $7.4 million in cash, $900,000 in common stock.
Exactech said it expects France Medica's contribution to '08 annual revenues to be about $9 million.
David Petty, president of Exactech, said, "The establishment of a direct sales operation in this key market is a major step in enabling us to strengthen our competitive position, improve service to our customers in France and grow our European business. Key members of the management team have now become part of Exactech ... . "
In other dealmaking news:
• Nuance Communications (Burlington, Massachusetts) said it has agreed to acquire eScription (Needham, Massachusetts), a provider of computer-aided medical transcription technology.
Nuance will pay about $363 million for eScription, $340 million in cash and $23 million in Nuance common stock, plus assumption of vested employee options of about $37 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of Nuance's FY08.
Warburg Pincus has agreed to purchase 5,760,369 shares of Nuance common stock for $17.36 a share, the closing price on April 4, for an investment of $100 million. Warburg Pincus also will acquire a warrant to purchase 3.7 million shares of Nuance common stock upon the closing of the investment. The warrant has an exercise price of $20 a share and a four-year term.
Warburg Pincus also agreed not to sell any shares of Nuance common stock for a period of six months after transaction close. This transaction will close with, and is contingent upon, closing of the eScription acquisition.
Nuance said the combined organization can deliver "scalable, highly productive solutions, as well as accelerate future innovation to transform the way healthcare provider organizations document patient care."
"We're committed to helping the healthcare industry initiate change through technologies that streamline the way medical reports are created," said Paul Ricci, CEO and chairman of Nuance. "The combined company will focus on continued innovation to evolve healthcare documentation and lower transcription costs in excess of $1 billion in the next few years."
Nuance said it expects the acquisition to add from $16 million to $18 million in non-GAAP revenue in FY08 and between $63 million and $68 million in FY09.
• Solis Women's Health (Austin, Texas) reported acquiring MedTech Mammography Centers (Phoenix), an independent provider of screening mammography in the Southwest. The MedTech complex includes seven facilities in greater Phoenix and three in Tucson. Terms were not disclosed.
Solis CEO Brad Hummel said the acquisition "dramatically increases our reach in Phoenix and Tucson ... . Each of these facilities offers full field digital mammography and will quickly be integrated into the Solis network."
Solis is a provider of screening mammography, diagnostic mammography, computer-aided detection, breast ultrasound, bone densitometry and stereotactic and ultrasound-guided biopsy, breast specific gamma imaging and breast MRI.
• The board of Molecular Vision (London) reported that discussions concerning its acquisition by Acrongenomics (Geneva, Switzerland) have now ended. It said Acrongenomics has been unable to complete on the agreed-upon terms and timetable.
Molecular Vision's board said "the best interests of the company are served by bringing these discussions to a conclusion."
Acrongenomics remains a significant shareholder in Molecular Vision, having recently acquired a 10.9% stake in the company, and that work continues on a joint development agreement between the companies begun in March 2006.