Stryker (NYSE:SYK) closed its $2.22-per-share buyout of California safety-sponge maker Patient Safety Technologies in a deal valued at about $120 million.
The acquisition represents a 59% premium over Patient Safety’s $1.40 close just prior to the deal’s January announcement.
PST and its SurgiCount Medical subsidiary developed the Safety-Sponge system, a platform for identifying and tracking surgical sponges to ensure that none are left inside patients after surgery. The mobile SurgiCounter keeps track of bar-coded sponges, providing reports and alerting surgeons as to how many sponges are in or out of patients and how many are left.
The company settled 4 lawsuits earlier this month filed by shareholders seeking to the block the Stryker acquisition. Late last week PST’s shareholders approved the deal, setting the stage for today’s closing.
Patient Safety said the closing means president & CEO Brian Stewart and CFO David Dreyer "ceased to serve as officers" today. Stryker’s medsurg & neurotechnology president Timothy Scannell was named president of its new subsidiary; tax president David Furgason became vice president; and treasurer Jeanne Blondia and secretary Dean Bergy assumed the same role, according to a regulatory filing.
SurgiCount in September 2013 announced a 3-year supply deal with group purchasing organization Novation, and as of its most recently reported quarter the company had an installed customer base of 303 facilities using the Safety-Sponge System, representing year-over-year growth of 14%. PST said in November that it already had signed contracts and implementation plans that would bring its base to more than 330.
PST is also mired in a patent infringement lawsuit that it lobbed against rival ClearCount and its SmartSponge Flex and SmartSponge systems. PST is seeking injunctive relief as well as compensatory damages, according to legal filings.