Member Article

London's Permira agrees major £622m healthcare deal

Investment firm Permira has announced an agreement to sell Creganna Medical to sensor manufacturer TE Connectivity for $895m (£622m) in an all cash transaction.

The deal, which was backed by the Permira IV fund, will see Creganna, which manufactures delivery devices for minimally invasive vascular surgery, become the second divestment from the Permira healthcare team in the last few months following the sale of aquatic health group Pharmaq last year.

Permira acquired Creganna in 2010 and, in the intervening period, has seen the firm’s revenue grow from $131m (£91m) to $249m (£173m) in 2015.

Commenting on the deal, Mike Garland, a partner at Permira, said: “We are very proud to have worked with Creganna to develop its business into high growth markets, expand its global footprint, enhance its technical capabilities and deepen its customer partnerships over the past five years.

“This investment demonstrates our strategy to partner with market-leading, multi-national businesses with strong growth potential and support management teams to achieve their international growth ambitions, while at the same time create attractive returns for the Permira funds’ investors.

“We will continue to look for opportunities to partner with innovative outsourcing businesses servicing the medical devices industry and we wish Creganna every success with its new strategic owner TE Connectivity.”

Chip Hance, Chief Executive Officer of Creganna Medical, added: “We are pleased to be joining TE Connectivity to continue our journey to become the leading supplier of minimally invasive medical device delivery and access solutions for interventional medicine.

“With Permira’s support, we have been able to focus our efforts on critical markets, make the necessary investments and achieve strong results over the last few years.

“Now we are ready to take the next step in the evolution of the business. In addition to Permira, I’d like to thank the more than 2,000 staff throughout the world whose commitment has enabled Creganna to advance and be true to our medical device customers, physicians and patients that depend on the work we do.”

Completion of the deal is expected by the second quarter of 2016 pending regulatory approval.