Hygiene and health company Essity acquired the Hydrofera, which offers technology and products within advanced wound care. The purchase price amounts to $116m (approximately SEK 1.1bn) with a potential additional earnout amount of $15m (approximately SEK 137m) on a cash and debt free basis. The acquisition supports Essity’s strategic priority to grow through acquisitions in Medical Solutions.
 
The US company Hydrofera was founded in 1996 and is a developer of Hydrofera Blue Antibacterial Wound Dressings, an advanced line of wound care products designed to shorten healing times, lower treatment costs, and deliver better patient outcomes. The company, which has about 90 employees, has its head office in Manchester, Conn. and is present in more than 15 countries.
 
For the first nine months of 2021, Hydrofera reported net sales of $20.7m (SEK 176m) with an EBITDA of $5.9m (SEK 50m), an EBITA of $5.6m (SEK 48m), equivalent to an EBITA margin of 27.2 percent. Sales growth for the first nine months of 2021 amounted to 22 percent. In 2020, the company reported net sales of approximately $23.5m (SEK 216m), with an EBITDA of $4.6m (SEK 42m) and EBITA of $4.3m (SEK 39m), equivalent to an EBITA margin of 18.1 percent. Sales growth in 2020 amounted to 13 percent. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Essity’s earnings per share in 2022.
 
“The acquisition of Hydrofera is yet another great strategic fit for Essity further strengthening our innovation capacity and expanding our offering within advanced wound care. The company has innovations that significantly accelerate healing and reduce the patient’s discomfort,” said Ulrika Kolsrud, President Health and Medical Solutions at Essity.
 
Hydrofera has a direct sales force and maintains agreements and preferred provider status with the major national medical/surgical distributors and buying groups in the US and Canadian healthcare markets. Products are used across the entire care range such as hospitals, wound clinics, long term care facilities, and homecare. The suite of products is designed to meet requirements for a wide variety of wound care needs.
 
Essity’s medical solutions business offers innovative and high-quality medical products in wound care, compression, and orthopedics with global brands such as Leukoplast, Cutimed, JOBST, Actimove and Delta-Cast. In acute and advanced wound care, Essity is the world’s fifth largest player.