Cook Medical announced this morning it has signed a letter of intent with Astorg, a leading private equity firm with an extensive and successful track record in global healthcare investments, to purchase Cook’s Reproductive Health business (“Cook ART”). This sale, which includes the in vitro fertilization (IVF) and assisted reproductive technology (ART) products, is another step toward fulfilling Cook’s vision for the future of the company.
Cook has been involved in the Reproductive Health space for more than 30 years, developing and launching products for in vitro fertilization and advanced reproductive therapies. Astorg, which has deep experience in investing in MedTech across both manufacturing and product businesses with a focus on growth and innovation, intends to acquire and simultaneously combine the Cook ART portfolio with Hamilton Thorne, a leading provider of precision instruments, consumables, software, and services to the ART research and the cell biology space. Through combining Cook ART and Hamilton Thorne, Astorg expects to create a leading ART provider with a comprehensive portfolio of high-quality, innovative, and reliable equipment and consumables to better serve doctors, embryologists, researchers, and patients.
“Cook is focused on our vision to deliver a continuous stream of innovative new products and services to address unmet customer needs. Part of achieving that business strategy has included reviewing our product portfolio and identifying what product lines are the best fit for Cook moving forward and which might have more opportunity to grow or thrive elsewhere,” said DJ Sirota, senior vice president of Cook Medical’s MedSurg division. “Astorg has exciting plans to build an IVF/ART manufacturing hub at our facility in Vandergrift, PA, creating a core location for manufacturing operations for Cook ART products. The expertise and skill of our Reproductive Health commercial and manufacturing teams will be critical to this transaction, which reflects the value our employees have to this business, its customers, and patients around the world.”
Transaction details:
- The proposed transaction is subject to applicable local consultation obligations and regulatory review globally before it can be finalized. The transaction is expected to close in the fall of 2024.
- The 93 Reproductive Health commercial employees include sales, product management, training, and marketing, will receive employment offers from, or (where applicable under local law) automatically transfer to, the newly combined company as soon as the transactions close.
- This purchase includes the Cook Vandergrift, Pennsylvania manufacturing site. After the transaction closes, there will be a three-year transition period during which Cook will continue to provide manufacturing services at Cook Vandergrift. After that period, all of Cook Vandergrift’s 209 employees will transfer to the combined company.
- The proceeds from this sale will be reinvested back into Cook Medical’s strategic plan.
