Medartis plans IPO to expand surgical implant business

Medartis is planning an IPO to bankroll the expansion of its internal surgical bone fixation business. The Swiss medical device manufacturer wants to list on its local exchange in the coming months.

Basel, Switzerland-based Medartis is a well-established private firm. Having begun life 20 years ago, the surgical implant specialist has grown into a profitable 480-person business with revenues north of $110 million. Now, Medartis thinks the time is right to inject more cash into its operation.

“The planned IPO will mark an important milestone in the development of Medartis and will allow us to take the company to the next level. There are numerous opportunities for us to grow, and the timing is right for us to offer shares and seek a listing, in order to be in a strong position to capture these favorable prospects,” Medartis founder and chairman Thomas Straumann said in a statement (PDF).

Medartis established itself in the internal surgical bone fixation sector with a series of innovations, including a multidirectional locking system, a self-holding screw and a screw technology that ends the need for predrilling. The plan is to use the IPO money to introduce a string of new products over the next few years.

Management also sees the IPO haul benefiting existing products. Medartis already sells its devices in 44 countries but sees scope to gain ground in certain markets. The expansion of existing devices into additional indications is also on the cards.

Medartis hopes the mix of a solid platform, experienced management team and avenues for further growth will prove attractive to Swiss investors, who have been starved of new opportunities to back medical device companies in recent years. SFS, which has some involvement in medical components, went public in Switzerland in 2014 but overall it has been a quiet decade for Swiss device IPOs.