A Medical Device Daily

MicroVention (Aliso Viejo, California), a manufacturer of minimally invasive treatments for cerebral and vascular peripheral diseases, reported completing its merger with Terumo (Shibuya-ku, Japan), manufacturer of hospital, cardiac, vascular and home healthcare products in an all-cash acquisition.

Terumo said the acquisition, unveiled in late February (Medical Device Daily, March 1, 2006), will enable it to expand into the worldwide market for the endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms which it estimated at about $225 million and expected to show double-digit growth over the next several years.

MicroVention and its employees and management will continue to operate out of the company's Aliso Viejo headquarters. The existing management team and all MicroVention employees will remain in place and in their current roles.

MicroVention develops catheter-based technologies for the endovascular treatment of cerebral and peripheral vascular diseases. The company has received 510(k) clearance and CE-marking for both its MicroPlex Coil System and the HydroCoil embolization system to treat cerebral aneurysms.

MicroVention sells its products through its direct sales force in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany and the UK and through distributors in other countries.

Terumo manufactures single-use medical devices, such as syringes, blood bags and IV solutions. The company claims the largest share of the world markets for angiography guide wires and perfusion products and also makes catheters and stents.

In other dealmaking activity:

• Vocollect (Pittsburgh), a leader in voice-directed technologies, said it has agreed to acquire Adherence Technologies (Dulles, Virginia), a developer of voice-activated documentation and communication systems for nursing homes. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Adherence offers products for improving the accuracy and quality of care provided to nursing home residents. Its signature offering, AccuNurse, is a product line of lightweight headsets for nurses, enabling them to receive patient care instructions, deliver care, document care as it takes place and communicate with other staff more quickly in response to resident needs.

Adherence management team will join the Vocollect organization and continue to maintain a presence in Dulles. The new unit will be headed by Roger Byford, co-founder of Vocollect.

Jim Roddey, CEO of Adherence, said the transaction “will strengthen the offerings we bring to long-term care facilities to improve both employee efficiency and the quality of resident care.“

Vocollect's voice-directed work applications talk people through their daily tasks, replacing traditional work lists and cumbersome data capture methods with personal voice dialogs.

• The Vision Care Division of Hoya (Uithoorn, Netherlands), a developer of ophthalmic lenses, said it has agreed to acquire a 51% stake in Hill Optics , a manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses in South Africa. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hoya said the agreement enables it to increase sales of high-end and premium products in South Africa.

Hill Optics was founded in 1984 by Clifford Sher and expanded to become one of South Africa's largest lens suppliers. From 1997 Hoya and Hill Optics cooperated in South Africa under a distribution agreement. Hill Optics employs 250 people in its three branches: Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

The company will start operations as Hoya Hill Optics South Africa from April 2, with the existing management of Hill Optics in place.

Gerald Bottero, president and CEO of Hoya, said: “we expect to see higher sales of progressive lenses [in South Africa] due to rising disposable incomes and favorable demographic trends“.

Hoya is a developer of information technology, vision care and medical devices, with over 24,000 employees and operations in 28 countries. The company reported 2005 sales of more than JPY 308 billion.

• Fresenius Medical Care North America (Lexington, Massachusetts) reported that in connection with the tender offer and consent solicitation by Florence Acquisition , an indirect subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care (Bad Homburg, Germany), for any and all of the $159,685,000 in outstanding principal amount of 9% senior subordinated notes, due 2011, of Renal Care Group (Nashville, Tennessee), Florence is further extending the tender offer expiration date to 5 p.m., EST, March 31. The offer is being made in connection with the pending acquisition of Renal Care Group and its subsidiaries.

The consideration to be paid for validly tendered notes will be $1,097.95 per $1,000 principal amount of the notes, on the basis of the yield to maturity on the 4.25% U.S. Treasury Note, due 10 a.m., EST, Oct. 31, 2007, on the price determination date of March 15. If the offer is further extended for more than 10 business days from the previously scheduled expiration date, the consideration will be re-calculated.

As of 6 p.m., EST, March 28, 100% of the outstanding aggregate principal amount of the notes has been tendered, Fresenius said.

Fresenius bills itself as the world's largest integrated provider of products and services for kidney dialysis.