LEWISVILLE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Orthofix International N.V., (NASDAQ:OFIX) (the Company) announced today
that it entered into a definitive agreement under which Water Street
Healthcare Partners, a strategic private equity firm focused exclusively
on the health care industry, will acquire Orthofix's Sports Medicine
Business Unit, which operates as Breg, Inc. The purchase price is $157.5
million and is payable in cash at closing, which is expected to occur
during the second fiscal quarter of 2012. Net proceeds to Orthofix from
the sale are anticipated to be approximately $140 million, which will be
used for the prepayment of debt as required by Orthofix's existing
credit agreement.
The Company acquired its Sports Medicine business in 2003 with the
purchase of Breg, which is headquartered in Carlsbad, CA. The Sports
Medicine business provides a portfolio of bracing and cold therapy
products to treat a variety of sports medicine related conditions.
"With the divestiture of the Sports Medicine business, we are now able
to devote Orthofix's full resources and attention to strengthening our
value proposition around our repair hardware and regenerative biologics
and stimulation solutions," said Robert Vaters, President and Chief
Executive Officer. "We believe this deleveraging event and resulting
borrowing capacity will allow us to expand and enhance both our Spine
and Orthopedic business units in a way that accelerates our ability to
create shareholder value."
"We are pleased that Orthofix has entrusted Water Street to grow Breg.
We see tremendous opportunity to build on Breg's leadership position and
create greater long-term value in the organization. We will leverage our
team's deep medical products knowledge, extensive operating experience
and network of relationships to strategically expand Breg's innovative
products and global presence," said Chris Sweeney, partner, Water Street.
Upon closing, the Company will file the required pro forma financial
results reflecting the disposition following the consummation of the
sale transaction with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including
any impact of pre-closing liabilities the Company will retain. J.P.
Morgan Securities LLC provided a fairness opinion to the board of
directors related to the transaction.
Conference Call:
Orthofix will host a conference call today at 9:00 AM Eastern time to
discuss this announcement. Interested parties may access the conference
call by dialing (888) 267-2845 in the U.S. and (973) 413-6102 outside
the U.S., and entering the conference ID 38220. A replay of the call
will be available for two weeks by dialing (800) 332-6854 in the U.S.
and (973) 528-0005 outside the U.S., and entering the conference ID
3822024. A slide deck related to this conference call can be found on www.orthofix.com.
About Orthofix:
Orthofix International N.V. is a diversified, global medical device
company focused on developing and delivering innovative repair and
regenerative solutions to the spine and orthopedic markets. Orthofix's
products are widely distributed around the world to orthopedic surgeons
and patients via Orthofix's sales representatives and its subsidiaries,
and via collaborations with other leading orthopedic product companies.
In addition, Orthofix is collaborating on R&D activities with leading
research and clinical organizations such as the Musculoskeletal
Transplant Foundation, the Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation,
and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. For more information
about Orthofix, please visit www.orthofix.com.
About Water Street:
Water Street is a strategic private equity firm focused exclusively on
health care. The firm has a strong record of building market-leading
companies across key growth sectors in health care. It has worked with
some of the world's leading health care companies on its investments.
Water Street's team is comprised of industry executives and private
equity professionals with decades of experience investing in and
operating global health care businesses. The firm is headquartered in
Chicago. For more information about Water Street, visit waterstreet.com.
Orthofix International N.V.
Mark Quick, 214-937-2924
Director
of Investor Relations and Business Development
markquick@orthofix.com
or
Water
Street Healthcare Partners
Kelly Zitlow, 847-858-5230
Kelly.zitlow@waterstreet.com
Source: Orthofix International N.V.
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