Med-Tech Co. Medafor Sold For $200M

Medical device maker Medafor, Inc., announced Monday that it will be acquired by Murray Hill, New Jersey-based C. R. Bard, Inc., for $200 million, and the price could climb by an additional $80 million if certain product sales goals are met.
 
The transaction remains subject to closing conditions but is expected to close later this year.
 
According to Medafor, the deal will provide shareholders with about $6.37 per share at closing, plus up to an additional $2.82 per share if specific “revenue-based milestones” are met by June 30, 2015.
 
The Minneapolis-based company develops and supplies surgical hemostats—medical devices that control bleeding in patients when conventional means are ineffective or impractical.
 
According to C. R. Bard, “The existing global market for surgical hemostats is over $1.4 billion and this acquisition will provide Bard with a proprietary technology platform to expand its participation in this dynamic market.”
 
In a letter to shareholders announcing the purchase, Medafor CEO Gary Shope wrote: “This transaction underscores the soundness of our business strategy and how well our employees executed against that plan. Certainly, the road has not always been easy, but we have been buttressed by a patient and loyal investor base that enabled us to stand strong and execute on our business plan to grow the value of our company.”
 
Last year, Medafor concluded a three-year legal battle with Kennesaw, Georgia-based CryoLife, Inc., with which Medafor had partnered for distribution purposes.
 
CryoLife had exclusive rights to distribute Medafor’s blood-clotting powder, HemoStase, in most cardiac and vascular markets in the United States and in several other international markets—excluding China and Japan, according to Medafor.
 
In 2009, CryoLife sued Medafor, alleging that Medafor allowed other companies to distribute HemoStase products in geographic areas and medical markets in which it had exclusive rights under the terms of CryoLife’s distribution agreement.
 
Medafor cut its distribution ties with CryoLife in 2010, about five weeks after the company rejected CryoLife’s offer to buy it for $2 a share, or $40 million.
 
The lawsuit was closed in 2012 when Medafor agreed to pay CryoLife $3.5 million in an out-of-court settlement.
 
More recently, Medafor expanded its footprint in Brooklyn Center, signing a lease in Februrary for a 31,000-square-foot space, according to Finance & Commerce.
 
The Medafor deal marks C. R. Bard’s second Minnesota med-tech acquisition in recent years; in 2011 it paid $225 million for Maple Grove-based Lutonix, Inc.
 
C. R. Bard is a multinational developer, manufacturer, and marketer of medical technologies.