Johnson Matthey Plc

Medical Device Components (MDC) today named Corza Health CEO and Corza Medical founder Greg Lucier as its non-executive chairman, effective Oct. 1. “I’m thrilled to join the MDC team to shepherd continued growth and unlock additional value creation … as we help enhance the lives of patients around the globe by delivering unmatched medical components to the medical technology industry,” Lucier said in a post on LinkedIn. Nitinol Pulse: Sign up for our free nitinol email newsletter here San Diego-based MDC develops and manufactures miniature components for minimally invasive medical devices used in high-growth clinical specialties. It focuses on complex and high-precision components made from platinum group metals and nitinol. Johnson Matthey sold the business for $700 million to private equity firm Montagu this summer. Nitinol know-how and resources: What is nitinol and where is it used? Lucier was formerly CEO and chair of NuVasive, the spine surgery tech developer that merged with Globus Medical in 2023. Before that, he was chair and CEO of Life Technologies, growing the company’s annual revenue from around $700 million to nearly $4 billion, ultimately selling the business to Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2014 for around $15 billion. In 2019, Lucier founded healthcare investment firm Corza Health with the backing of private equity firm GTCR. In 2021, he and GTCR launched Corza Medical to develop ophthalmology, wound closure, biosurgery, and biomedical textile products. He’s now executive chair of Corza Medical, which ranked No. 94 on our 2024 Medtech Big 100 list of the largest medical device companies by revenue. Previously: Corza Medical set to take on ‘almost monopolistic’ surgical giants MDC said Lucier has been involved in more than 75 acquisitions worth more than $30 billion combined. He’s on the boards of directors for Catalent, Dentsply Sirona, Maravai Life Sciences, Antylia Scientific, Corza Medical and Pleno. “Greg brings a wealth of experience, having led transformative growth in the healthcare and medtech industries,” MDC said. “His strategic insights and leadership have consistently driven innovation and success, and we are excited about the vision and direction he will bring to our company.” Medical nitinol manufacturing: How this nickel-titanium alloy is made for medical devices

Private equity firm Montagu announced that it agreed to acquire the Johnson Matthey Medical Device Components (MDC) business. Johnson Matthey said Montagu has agreed to pay $700 million cash for the business. The deal is subject to regulatory approval but expected to close sometime around the third quarter. It’s the latest deal in the nitinol market as medical device developers find new applications for the nickel-titanium alloy, ranging from orthopedics to brain and heart implants and interventional devices. Earlier this year, Confluent Medical Technologies invested at least $50 million in ATI’s nitinol melt and materials conversion infrastructure. Last year, Resonetics bought the SAES Getters medical nitinol business for $900 million. Johnson Matthey’s carved-out MDC business develops and manufactures miniature components for minimally invasive medical devices used in high-growth clinical specialties. It focuses on complex and high-precision components made from platinum group metals and nitinol. The business has decades of expertise in the metallurgy, micro-machining and coating of these specialty alloys. It has manufacturing sites in San Diego; Mexicali, Mexico; and Tullamarine, Australia. “As a JM business, MDC has delivered technological differentiation and good growth to the critical health sector,” Johnson Matthey CEO Liam Condon said in a news release. “We welcome Montagu’s plans to continue the investment and growth plans at MDC.” Once the transaction closes, Montagu plans to have MDC operate as a standalone company led by its existing management team. “We are delighted to be partnering with Montagu in the next phase of MDC’s development. They bring a significant amount of expertise in healthcare and in particular IP-led medical devices, and they share our ambitions for the business over the coming years, both organically and through M&A,” MDC CEO Don Freeman said. The MDC carve-out “aligns strongly with Montagu’s approach,” Montagu Partner Adrien Sassi said. “MDC has rare and hard to replicate capabilities that enable it to handle the most complex and demanding precision-engineered components at scale,” Sassi said. “With support from Johnson Matthey, Don and his team have positioned the business to capitalize on the fast growth of its underlying markets and blue-chip OEM customers. We look forward to supporting their ambitious expansion plans.” Medical nitinol manufacturing: How this nickel-titanium alloy is made for medical devices

Johnson Matthey has used its platinum metals background to support its medical device component business employed in the production of stents, heart valves and a wide range of implants. Johnson Matthey, the U.K. metals and chemicals conglomerate, plans to sell off the entirety of its global Medical Device Components business, with manufacturing sites spanning the U.S., Mexico and Australia. The £550 million deal, or about $700 million U.S., will see the division’s ownership transfer to Montagu Private Equity. It marks the second transaction in the sector by the firm in the past three months, after it carved out Cook Medical’s biotech unit in January and combined it with RTI Surgical, a regenerative medicine-focused contract development and manufacturing company. After the deal for MDC closes, it is set to operate as a standalone company led by its current management, according to Montagu. “We are delighted to be partnering with Montagu in the next phase of MDC’s development,” MDC chief Don Freeman said in a statement. “They bring a significant amount of expertise in healthcare and in particular IP-led medical devices, and they share our ambitions for the business over the coming years, both organically and through M&A.” According to the company, MDC has delivered more than 500 million hardware components into the marketplace—including micromachined and wire parts made from nitinol alloys, platinum, titanium and other precious metals, all used to build catheter electrodes, stents, heart valves and pacemakers, as well as neuromodulation, cochlear and orthopedic implants.  Johnson Matthey, meanwhile, has been in the process of selling off the divisions it considers outside its core businesses of clean air equipment, platinum metals services, manufacturing catalysts and hydrogen fuel cell technologies. The company recently departed with its diagnostic services, piezoelectronics and battery system units.  In Johnson Matthey’s most recent full fiscal year financial report (PDF), which ended March 31, 2023, medical device components delivered £93 million in revenue.  “The carve-out of MDC aligns strongly with Montagu’s approach. MDC has rare and hard-to-replicate capabilities that enable it to handle the most complex and demanding precision-engineered components at scale,” said Montagu partner Adrien Sassi.  "With support from Johnson Matthey, Don and his team have positioned the business to capitalize on the fast growth of its underlying markets and blue-chip OEM customers. We look forward to supporting their ambitious expansion plans,” Sassi said. Montagu previously placed on our list of the largest medtech M&A deals of 2019, with a $1.15 billion partnership deal with the private equity firm Astorg over the ownership of the French drug delivery equipment specialist Nemera.