Merit Medical Systems, a global leader in healthcare technology, has signed a definitive asset purchase agreement to purchase Cook Medical’s lead management portfolio for a total cash consideration of approximately $210 million. 
 
The closing of the proposed transaction is expected to occur during the fourth quarter of 2024. Merit expects to fund the transaction through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under its long-term credit facility. 
 
The closing is subject to certain closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, and other customary closing conditions.
 
“This transaction is consistent with our Continued Growth Initiatives (CGI) and positions Merit to offer clinicians an increasingly comprehensive set of solutions to support cardiac intervention patients, from diagnosis, to therapy and intervention, to post-procedure care, ” said Fred P. Lampropoulos, Merit’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe this transaction will strengthen our fast-growing, high-margin electrophysiology and CRM business with the addition of differentiated products and an established commercial infrastructure. We believe the transaction will enhance our position in the cardiac intervention market, which we estimate represents an annual addressable opportunity of more than $900 million in the US, EMEA and APAC regions. Specifically, beginning in fiscal year 2025, the addition of Cook’s lead management business positions Merit to represent more than $100 million in combined annualized electrophysiology and cardiac rhythm management revenue serving the global cardiac intervention market.”
 
Cook Medical’s lead management business has 34 years of operating history and provides a comprehensive end-to-end product portfolio of medical devices and accessories used in lead management procedures for patients who need a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) lead removed or replaced.
 
Mr. Lampropoulos continued: “We have updated our full-year 2024 financial guidance to include the projected impact of this acquisition from a prospective closing date of October 31, 2024 to December 31, 2024 and, importantly, we have reaffirmed our updated full-year 2024 financial guidance previously issued on August 1, 2024. While we anticipate the transaction will be modestly dilutive to our full-year 2024 non-GAAP profitability given the partial-year contribution, we believe the financial profile of this acquisition is very attractive and is consistent with our goal of delivering sustainable, constant currency growth, improving profitability and strong free cash flow generation. We look forward to discussing this acquisition and our updated outlook for 2024 on our third quarter earnings report on October 30, 2024.”