ConMed Corporation, a Utica, New York-based surgical device maker, has announced its agreement to acquire the privately held Buffalo Filter LLC for $365 million in a transaction that is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.
ConMed Corporation to Acquire Buffalo Filter
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The transaction is expected to be financed through a combination of new convertible notes and an expanded and amended credit facility.
Established in 1991, Buffalo Filter develops surgical smoke evacuation technologies, including pencils, laparoscopic solutions, and related accessories. Buffalo Filter describes surgical smoke as “a dangerous by-product generated from the use of lasers, electrosurgical pencils, ultrasonic devices and other surgical instruments. As these instruments cauterize vessels and destroy (vaporize) tissue, fluid and blood, they create a gaseous material known as smoke.”
Buffalo Filter is located in the Buffalo suburb of Lancaster, New York, and is an affiliate of the Illinois-based Madison Industries. In the conference call about the acquisition, ConMed executives said that Buffalo Filter is expected to generate $44 million in revenue in 2018.
ConMed offers surgical devices and equipment for minimally invasive procedures. ConMed’s products are used in areas including orthopedics, general surgery, gynecology, neurosurgery, and gastroenterology. ConMed has a direct selling presence in 19 countries. International sales constitute approximately 50% of the company’s total sales.
According to ConMed president and CEO Curt Hartman, “This acquisition is a strong strategic fit with our general surgery portfolio, and the platform technology provides us a leading position in the high-growth smoke-evacuation market. We believe this technology, combined with our focused innovation in the surgical suite, will deliver impactful solutions to address significant challenges confronting healthcare practitioners and their patients. We look forward to welcoming Buffalo Filter’s talented team to ConMed.”
Buffalo Filter President and CEO Samantha Bonano agreed, saying, “We believe that the combination of our dedicated teams, as well as our proven research and development expertise, will enable us to continue to bring best-in-class smoke-evacuation products to a growing global market.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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