In recent years, much of Haemonetics’ focus has been on building out a portfolio of devices for interventional cardiology procedures.
Its latest M&A move continues that trend. The Boston-based devicemaker announced Tuesday that it plans to acquire OpSens, the Canadian developer of a range of optical sensor-equipped devices for both medical and industrial uses, including coronary guidewires with built-in sensors to help monitor patients’ health throughout a procedure.
Haemonetics has offered to buy up all outstanding OpSens shares for $2.90 Canadian dollars each (about $2.13 U.S.), which amounts to an all-cash deal of about $253 million U.S.
According to OpSens’ own release this week, that buying price represents a premium of nearly 70% over its average stock price through the 10 days preceding the announcement of the deal.
Shareholders of both Haemonetics and OpSens appeared pleased with the proposal: OpSens’ stock price immediately soared more than 45% on Tuesday morning, surpassing the $2 mark for the first time in over a year, while Haemonetics’ own share price took a less dramatic upswing, steadily climbing about 2% over the course of Tuesday morning’s trading.
Haemonetics said it plans to close the deal by the end of January 2024. It has already been unanimously approved by OpSens’ board of directors, who have recommended that shareholders vote in favor of it, too.
“This transaction will create value for our shareholders and is a testament to the quality of the team’s work over the years, the added value of our products, and the potential for the years to come. The integration within Haemonetics should enhance the benefits for OpSens’ products with access to a world-class sales network while capitalizing on the specialized production and R&D expertise of OpSens,” Louis Laflamme, the Quebec-based company’s CEO and president, said in the release.
According to Haemonetics, the transaction is expected to be “immediately accretive” to its revenue growth, and the company plans to use the acquisition as a jumping-off point for further internal and external R&D in its hospital business unit.
Haemonetics specifically singled out OpSens’ SavvyWire and OptoWire products, which are used in TAVR and percutaneous coronary intervention procedures, respectively, as standout additions to its hospital device portfolio. The sensors on both guidewires are designed to provide real-time measurements of pressure and other crucial indicators throughout a surgery, offering doctors yet another layer of guidance.
The blood-focused devicemaker noted that those and other OpSens product would be especially complementary to Haemonetics’ growing profile of vascular closure devices, which has been a particular point of focus for the company in the last two years.
It first branched into vascular closure products—which are used to seal up and promote healing of the holes made by catheters during TAVR and other interventional cardiology procedures—in 2021, with the $510 million acquisition of Cardiva Medical. That deal brought the Vascade vascular closure system under the Haemonetics umbrella; though already widely used in the U.S. before the purchase, it has since earned CE mark clearance under Haemonetics’ watch and was used in its first European procedure in August.
Meanwhile, yet another vascular closure device acquisition could soon be in the works, as Haemonetics earlier this year invested 30 million euros into Vivasure Medical, developer of the PerQseal arterial closure device, in an agreement that also gives Haemonetics the option to acquire the Irish devicemaker if it reaches certain milestones.