CooperSurgical has inked an $875 million deal to purchase Cook Medical’s reproductive health portfolio, which includes medical devices for fertility, obstetrics, gynecology and in vitro fertilization.
But it won’t be a sudden change. Under the agreement, Cook’s subsidiaries will continue to manufacture products for CooperSurgical during a two-year transition. Those companies—including William Cook Australia plus U.S.-based Cook Spencer and Cook Vandergrift—will also increase their capacity to keep up with any growth during that period.
The financial structure of the deal somewhat mirrors that timeline, with $675 million paid upfront at closing and the remaining $200 million delivered in $50 million annual installments over the next four years.
The Cook Medical employees manufacturing these products will continue to do so during the transition period but will eventually cross over to manufacture other Cook Medical products, the company said in a statement.
“This agreement will allow us to invest in future growth and new technologies,” said Pete Yonkman, president of Cook Medical and Cook Group, which has maintained its reproductive health portfolio for more than 40 years. “The rest of the Cook organization will continue as privately held, family-owned companies with no plans to change that status.”
On CooperSurgical’s side, the president and CEO of its CooperCompanies parent, Al White, called (PDF) the deal an “excellent strategic fit” and said the acquisition would expand its international fertility footprint, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. The reproductive health business previously posted revenues of about $158 million from the 2021 calendar year, up about 17% compared to 2020.
The deal is the latest in a string of reproductive-health-focused acquisitions for CooperSurgical, the largest being last year’s $1.6 billion deal to pick up Generate Life Sciences, which is focused on fertility solutions, labor and delivery.
Before that, 2021 saw it absorb OBP Medical (PDF), maker of single-use illuminating vaginal speculums, anoscopes and laryngoscopes; Safe Obstetric Systems (PDF), with tools for C-section delivery; and Aegea Medical (PDF) for its in-office endometrial ablation treatment.
