Wellspect bidders CVC, KKR, PAI, EQT expected to progress into second round

Auri Aittokallio , Johannes Koch , Gustav Hoejmark-Jensen and Rachel Lewis
14 April 2023

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

The sale of Wellspect HealthCare is advancing with CVC, KKR, PAI, and EQT among the parties expected to be admitted to the second round, four sources familiar with the matter said.

Following an initial round of non-binding offers for the Swedish bladder and bowel-control products specialist in March, bidders were requested to resubmit and confirm offers, two of the sources and another source familiar said.

Final bids for the asset, owned by North Carolina, US-based dental products specialist Dentsply Sirona, are expected mid-May, two of the sources said.

Some strategic buyers had also submitted offers, one of the sources said.

Wellspect's peers include fellow Swedish medical device specialist Molnlycke Health Care, Danish Coloplast, and UK-based Convatec, a sector banker noted.

KKR acquired Clinisupplies, a UK-based manufacturer of continence care products late last year, with the sponsor saying at the time that it wants to build an international chronic care medical devices platform.

Centerview Partners is guiding the process to divest the business, which is expected to generate EUR 80m to EUR 100m in annual EBITDA, as previously reported by this news service. The asset could be valued at around USD 1bn (EUR 910.7m), as reported.

Dentsply Sirona attempted a sale of Wellspect in 2018, with Moelis & Company overseeing the process at the time. Dentsply subsequently divested Wellspect Healthcare's surgery and respiration business to Sweden's AddLife in late 2018 for around EUR 18m.

Mölndal, Sweden-based Wellspect manufactures intermittent urinary catheters, launching its flagship product line LoFric in 1983. Its product range also supports ways to empty bowels and prevent against leakage.

Dentsply Sirona, EQT, and CVC did not return requests for comment. PAI Partners and KKR declined to comment.