Healthcare 21 founder Owen Curtain. Image: Healthcare 21
AddLife is acquiring the Irish business as part of its continued expansion in the European life sciences sector.
Cork-headquartered Healthcare 21, which provides distribution and services to healthcare organisations, is being acquired in a deal worth up to €245m.
Swedish company AddLife has snapped up the business for an initial purchase price of €240m, of which 74pc is being paid in cash and 26pc is being settled with newly issued class-B shares. It said an additional consideration of up to €5m may also be payable.
Healthcare 21 supplies medical equipment such as ventilators, beds and blood pressure monitoring equipment from its warehouse in Blarney, Co Cork. It works with medical facilities and organisations including the HSE in Ireland and the NHS in the UK.
The company was founded in 2003 by Owen Curtin, who recently told Siliconrepublic.com about the challenges of supplying healthcare equipment during the pandemic.
As well as its headquarters in Blarney, it also has bases in Dublin, Limerick and Northern Ireland, with around 450 employees. The company’s management team will continue to lead the business after the acquisition.
“This is an exciting development for Healthcare 21, our 450 employees, our suppliers, our customers and all stakeholders,” said Tara Kearney, CEO of Healthcare 21.
“It accelerates growth opportunities for us and positions Healthcare 21 for the next stage of our journey. Being part of a larger European healthcare group will allow Healthcare 21 to deliver an expanded product and service offering.”
AddLife is a specialist healthcare organisation with 55 subsidiary companies across 25 European countries. The Stockholm-listed company offers life sciences products and services to the public and private sectors, primarily in the Nordic region.
It said that the acquisition of Healthcare 21 would help establish the business in Ireland and the UK, and give it access to a “very attractive customer base” in clinical segments.
“Healthcare 21 gives us a solid point of entry and a critical mass in two of Europe’s most attractive life science markets,” said Kristina Willgård, CEO of AddLife.
“We have similar ranges of products and services and both businesses are run based on a decentralised business model that offers value creation and distribution of products and services within selected niches.”
