Haemonetics inks $253M OpSens buyout, adding cardiology guidewires to portfolio

Dive Brief:

  • Haemonetics has struck a deal to buy the interventional cardiology company OpSens for around $253 million.
  • OpSens sells two pressure-sensing guidewires for use in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures. The devices helped OpSens generate sales of C$34.2 million ($25.2 million) over the first nine months of its current fiscal year.
  • Analysts at Needham told investors the takeover is consistent with the M&A strategy outlined by management and will give Haemonetics devices that complement its vascular closure products.

Dive Insight:

Haemonetics created its vascular closure business early in 2021 by acquiring Cardiva Medical for $510 million. On a quarterly results conference call in May, an analyst said the subsequent growth has been “phenomenal.” Haemonetics voiced an appetite for more deals on its next quarterly call, when CFO James D’Arecca set out plans to accelerate growth through M&A.

D’Arecca and the rest of the Haemonetics team followed through on those plans Tuesday, inking a deal to buy OpSens. The portfolio of the Quebec-based company includes two pressure-sensing guidewires, OptoWire and SavvyWire, that are used in interventional cardiology procedures. The Needham analysts called SavvyWire “a market leader,” adding that it is designed to shorten hospital stays for TAVR patients. 

There is overlap between the users of the guidewires and the users of Haemonetics’ Vascade family of devices used to close openings in artery walls. That overlap led the Needham analysts to frame the OpSens acquisition as complementary to the earlier takeover of Cardiva. 

“The OpSens products, which are used in PCI and TAVR procedures, address a ~ $1B market and complement [Haemonetics’] Vascade family of vascular closure devices. [Haemonetics] has begun to launch the Vascade products in Europe, and we believe that it can utilize the same sales channel for the OpSens products,” the analysts wrote.