Mindray Medical ($MR), China's largest medical device maker, has officially grabbed a major foothold in the U.S. The company sealed up its nearly $102 million bid for California's Zonare Medical Systems, giving its imaging business a major international market boost, plus access to a well-developed global direct sales force.
While Mindray announced the initial purchase price at $105 million, the final price tag dipped a bit to $101.7 million, adjusted for working capital at the closing date.
Mindray said it plans to use the acquisition to strengthen its focus on the high-end ultrasound market, and that Zonare will help the company speed up the launch of its next-generation high-end ultrasound tech. What's more, Zonare's direct sales and service market is now Mindray's which gives it immediate access to key markets in the U.S., Canada, Scandinavia and Germany served by that team. Its medical imaging business also needs a jolt, considering revenue in that segment remained flat as of earlier this year.
Mindray is actively focused on growing its brand internationally and expanding its imaging business into a larger player. But its latest acquisition acknowledges the brand awareness that Zonare has developed on its own. Zonare's name and Mountain View, CA, operations will remain, and its management team is expected to continue.
At the same time, Mindray's largest growth seems to be coming from China right now, so an international M&A deal helps to propel new revenue from other outside sources. Mindray's Q1 sales grew a whopping 21.2% in China versus 2.8% internationally, and the company said it expects its home country to be the primary growth engine through the rest of 2013.
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