Integer’s April strategic review followed activist pressure from Irenic Capital
Private-equity firm KKR is near a deal to acquire medical-device outsourcing company Integer Holdings in a transaction valued at roughly $127 a share, people familiar with the matter said. The deal could be announced as soon as next week, the people said, though they cautioned that discussions are ongoing and a final agreement is not guaranteed.
The potential acquisition follows pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that Irenic had built a stake of more than 3% in the Plano, Texas-based company and pushed it to refresh its board and consider a sale. In April, Integer said its board had begun a strategic review of options, including a possible sale or merger.
Integer works with other medical-device companies to design, develop and manufacture critical components. Its market value exceeds $3 billion, and its shares jumped roughly 20% after The Wall Street Journal reported on the deal talks Friday afternoon.
KKR, which manages roughly $800 billion in assets, has made several investments in healthcare-technology companies, including Cotiviti, Infinx and Healthium MedTech. The firm recently posted its best quarter for asset sales in its history, even as the broader private-equity industry works through a mounting backlog of unsold assets.
The deal would be the latest large private-equity transaction in the healthcare sector. In April, Blackstone and TPG took women’s-health diagnostics company Hologic private in a deal valued at up to $18.3 billion, including debt. Health-tech companies often sell stakes to private-equity firms to secure large-scale funding and expand their platforms.