Biosensors International Sold To State-Backed Chinese PE Firm For $817M
The Chinese private equity firm Citic Group Corporation (Citic) has snapped up the rest of Biosensors International, a Singapore-based med tech company specializing in cardiovascular devices and imaging equipment. The $817M deal represents a major medical device investment for Citic’s medical holdings, which reportedly walked away from negotiations to acquire both Bayer’s diabetes care unit and Mindray earlier this year.
Bloomberg reported that Citic already owned 19.6 percent of Biosensors’ market shares, which it acquired from Shandong Weigao Group in November of 2013. Rumors of a potential buyout began in 2014, and Bloomberg estimated at the time that the deal would be the “second-largest buyout by a Chinese private equity firm in the past decade.”
A year later, Citic is ready to finalize the deal and is prepared to pay 24 percent above Biosensors’ Oct. 23 closing price to acquire Biosensors’ remaining stock. According to The Business Times, Citic plans to amalgamate the company with its substantial shareholder, CB Medical Holdings.
Biosensors International’s portfolio includes therapeutic options in drug-coated and drug-eluting stents, femoral artery interventions, and specialized equipment for critical care units. In 2013, the company acquired Spectrum Dynamics assets, a deal which included the D-Spect Cardiac Imaging System, a next-generation diagnostic tool for interventional cardiologists, in a $51 million deal.
In September, Biosensors announced that it would begin commercializing its BMX-J drug-eluting stent in Japan, starting in October. Jose Calle, Biosensors’ CEO, commented in a press release that Japan is the third-largest single-country market after the U.S. and China, and Biosensors’ growth potential is “very strong.”
Over the past year, rumors have been swirling around Citic’s growing interest in expanding its holdings in the Chinese medical device industry, and the state-backed equity firm has made several overtures to maintain local support of a domestic business expected to grow 20 percent annually, and to purchase proprietary rights of foreign technology.
A bidding war over Bayer’s diabetes care unit ended when Panasonic walked away with a deal last May, but not before Citic-backed Sinocare and Biosensors International made competitive bids. Bloomberg reported that both Chinese med-tech companies were looking to gain access to technology and expand their portfolios.
Amid rumors that Citic was interested in acquiring Mindray Medical, Barrons reported that the Chinese-based manufacturer of patient monitoring systems, in-vitro diagnostics, and medical imaging experienced a 9.6 percent jump in NY stock price. Despite rumors, Mindray recently announced its acquisition by Excelsior Union.
In April, Boston Scientific signed a strategic partnership Frankenman Medical Equipment Company, an industry leader with surgical instrument market expertise in China, of which Citic is a current shareholder. In a press release, Citic stated that it will continue to support Frankenman’s growth “in alignment with this strategic partnership.”