NuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA) agreed to drop $40 million in cash and another $40 million worth of stock to acquire Impulse Monitoring Inc.
Columbia, Md.-based Impulse provides intra-operative monitoring services to hospitals and surgical centers. The company’s neurophysiologists work as members of the surgical team to keep watch for signs of "neurological compromise and identification of functional neural structures," according to a press release.
The company offers the service for cardiology, ear-nose-throat, brain, general orthopedic and spine procedures; the latter accounts for 80 percent of its case volume, according to the release.
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The deal is aimed at augmenting its NeuroVision nerve monitoring system, used along with its XLIF lateral lumbar interbody fusion offering, NuVasive said.
"The strategic move to acquire an IOM service provider will increase XLIF penetration and further drive lateral market share by increasing the number of neurophysiologists able to setup use of NeuroVision," according to the release. "Impulse Monitoring employs over 150 neurophysiologists while NuVasive has over 300 spine specialists in the field. As well, Impulse Monitoring will expand NuVasive’s presence into IOM services with a new revenue stream."
The IOM market is worth about $800 million, according to the company, meaning the deal "opens up a significant revenue growth opportunity for NuVasive, as the company looks to expand Impulse Monitoring’s leadership position into a nationwide footprint." That’s because only half of spine procedures use IOM, although use of the service is predicted to increase by 15 percent a year for the next several years, according to NuVasive.
"We are very familiar with this market through an acquisition of a much smaller regional IOM service provider last year," NUVA chairman & CEO Alex Lukianov said in prepared remarks. "The operational experience that we gained running that business, along with its outstanding results thus far, further validated our desire to expand our presence in this rapidly growing market."
The deal is expected to close in October. If it does, NuVasive said, it could add more than $8 million to the top line during the fourth quarter.
