Patricia Industries makes first Canadian investment with Laborie buy

Laborie Medical Technologies will be sold by Audax Private Equity and other co-investors and management to Patricia Industries.

Laborie, founded in 1967, manufactures equipment and consumables in the pelvic health and gastrointestinal arena. The company--which is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario--works with clinicians, universities and nonprofits around the globe, and manufactures most of its products in Canada.

Laborie’s products are used to diagnose and treat urinary incontinence and other urological and GI conditions, and are used on six continents in the world. Audax gave its initial investment in 2012, and since then Laborie has completed 14 acquisitions.

“Brian Ellacott [president and CEO of Laborie] and the entire Laborie team have done an extraordinary job transforming the Company through add-on acquisitions and product development from a manufacturer of capital equipment for urodynamic testing into a fully-integrated medical device company with a market-leading position in urology and a rapidly growing gastroenterology business,” said Geoffrey Rehnert, co-CEO of Audax, in the announcement from Audax. “We are proud of the shared accomplishment and wish Laborie continued success with its new partner.”

Ellacott made note of the “transformational growth strategy” that Laborie was able to execute with the help of Audax, and credited that partnership with the 14 add-on acquisitions. He also expressed the company’s excitement to continue growing with Patricia Industries.

Laborie noted in its announcement that this will be Patricia Industries’ first acquisition in Canada. The company will be managed out of Patricia Industries’ New York office.

“LABORIE has successfully developed into a high-quality and highly regarded provider of diagnostics products that help a vast number of people improve their daily lives, and its culture and values fit very well with those of Patricia Industries and Investor,” said Börje Ekholm, CEO of Patricia Industries, in the Laborie announcement. “Drawing from our experience and global network within healthcare products and services, we believe that Patricia Industries is well-positioned to support Laborie in its continued progress in a number of areas.”

- here's Audax's release
- and here's Laborie's release

Related Articles: 
Takeda teams with enGene for gastrointestinal R&D
Ionis outlicenses antisense GI drug to Janssen as the pharma posts Q2