Boston, MA--September 28, 2011--Great Hill Partners Announces the Sale of SterilMed, Inc. to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.--SterilMed, Inc. (SterilMed), a Minnesota-based healthcare cost containment company, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. (EES). SterilMed is a leading reprocessor of single-use medical devices and a provider of small equipment repair services for healthcare providers across the United States and Canada. EES is a global leader of innovative medical devices for minimally invasive and open surgical procedures. Financial terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.
SterilMed is a portfolio company of Great Hill Partners of Boston and Primus Capital Funds of Cleveland. The two private equity firms led the acquisition of the company in July 2010 from a group of venture capitalists.
Mark Taber, a Partner at Great Hill Partners, commented, “The SterilMed management team have built a dynamic, fast growing company that delivers industry leading cost containment solutions to healthcare providers. This combination will provide SterilMed the opportunity to continue their growth as part of EES.”
SterilMed offers products and services that help healthcare providers lower their medical device and equipment costs, while reducing the amount of environmental waste they generate. The acquisition broadens EES’ portfolio and enables expansion in a rapidly growing market segment. For SterilMed, the acquisition will bring the added scale, scope and experience of a leading medical device manufacturer. SterilMed will be managed as part of the Ethicon Endo-Surgery franchise, but will continue to operate as a stand-alone company and will maintain the name SterilMed.
Brian Sullivan, Chairman and CEO of SterilMed, stated, “This is an exciting opportunity for both our customers and our company. Becoming part of the Ethicon Endo-Surgery franchise will have a positive impact on our business, while also expanding our product portfolio to help our customers lower costs and reduce medical waste.”
SterilMed, founded in 1997, is one of the pioneers of the medical device reprocessing industry. The company has developed a range of proprietary reprocessing technologies in compliance with the FDA’s regulatory guidelines and has received over 40 FDA 510(k) clearances. To complement its core reprocessing services, SterilMed also offers small equipment repair services and certified pre-owned equipment sales to broaden the range of cost containment solutions for healthcare providers.
Phil Molner, a Partner at Primus, added, “SterilMed is an extremely well-run and profitable business that has grown rapidly over the past several years. It has been exciting to partner with SterilMed to help them achieve their long-term goals.”
The closing is conditioned on the expiration or termination of all applicable waiting periods pursuant to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions.
About SterilMed
SterilMed® offers services designed to help healthcare providers lower their medical device and equipment costs by maximizing the life of “single-use” medical devices, surgical instruments, power tools, endoscopes and video equipment. This allows healthcare facilities to free up critical financial resources through better device and equipment utilization while maintaining the highest levels of patient safety. SterilMed offers a uniquely integrated approach to medical device reprocessing that ensures the most streamlined logistics and the most rigorous quality approach enabling hospitals and medical facilities to reduce device cost and to decrease medical waste. SterilMed has saved healthcare providers hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of medical waste from landfills over the past few years. For more information, please visit www.sterilmed.com.
About Primus Capital Funds
Founded in 1983, Primus Capital Funds is a private equity firm that invests in high-growth companies within the healthcare, business services, and for-profit education industry sectors. Transaction types include management-led buyouts, recapitalizations, and primary investments of growth capital. For more information, please visitwww.primuscapital.com.
About Great Hill Partners
Great Hill Partners is a private equity firm that manages over $2.5 billion in capital to finance the expansion, recapitalization or acquisition of growth companies in a wide range of sectors within the business and consumer services, healthcare, media, communications and software industries. For more information, please visitwww.greathillpartners.com.
