RoundTable Acquires Instrumed International, Inc.
Acquisition Provides a New Platform Investment in Surgical Instrument Market
LAKE FOREST, IL, October 17, 2005 — RoundTable Healthcare Partners (“RoundTable”), an operating-oriented private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, announced today that it has acquired a majority interest in Instrumed International, Inc. (“Instrumed”). Instrumed, based in Schaumburg, Illinois, and with operations in Tuttlingen, Germany, is a family-owned and operated company that specializes in the manufacturing and sourcing of premium quality surgical instruments. Instrumed’s customers include industry leading broad line and specialty suppliers of surgical instruments. Members of the family will retain a large minority ownership stake and will continue in key management roles.
“We are very excited to partner with Instrumed,” said Joseph F. Damico, a Founding Partner of RoundTable and the new Chairman of Instrumed. “Instrumed has created tremendous value for its OEM customers by enabling them to improve and broaden their portfolio of precision surgical instruments. The company is consistently expanding the surgical markets it covers and now offers products in attractive, high growth areas such as neurology, spine and orthopedics markets.”
“RoundTable is the perfect partner for Instrumed,” said Berndt Fetzer, a founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Instrumed. “RoundTable’s extensive background in the global surgical instrument markets will be extremely valuable to Instrumed. We believe RoundTable’s operating expertise and relationships with key players in the healthcare industry will accelerate Instrumed’s revenue and profitability growth.”
Berndt Fetzer and several family members founded Instrumed in 1985. These family members, all of whom are based in Tuttlingen, include his brother, Peter Fetzer (VP, Engineering, Manufacturing, Purchasing,), his father Kurt Fetzer (non-executive Chairman) and his sister, Gloria Nieder (Director of Financing and Purchasing). Instrumed works with instrument companies from around the world and focuses on sourcing high-quality, German-manufactured, reusable, hand-held, precision surgical instruments across a wide spectrum of surgical specialties. Berndt, Peter and Kurt Fetzer are each trained as master craftsmen surgical instrument makers, and Tuttlingen is home to the largest concentration of surgical instrument craftsmen in the world.
“The investment by RoundTable is particularly exciting for me as I have directly worked with several members of the RoundTable team in the past, including Joe Damico,” said Jim Walsh, Instrumed’s President. Jim joined the company in 2003 after spending most of his career at one of Instrumed’s largest customers. “I have the unique perspective of having worked both at Instrumed as well as at one of Instrumed’s key customers. I look forward to continuing to use my experience and perspective to accelerate the Company’s growth in partnership with RoundTable.”
“We are very pleased to make another platform investment from Fund I,” said Lester B. Knight, Founding Partner and Managing Partner of RoundTable. “This investment continues RoundTable’s core strategy of partnering with owner/founders of leading companies that can benefit from our operating and transaction expertise.”
Instrumed is RoundTable’s eighth platform investment and was funded from its $400 million Fund I closed in 2002. RoundTable closed a second private equity fund totaling $500 million in March 2005. In addition to the Instrumed investment, RoundTable has participated in seven major transactions in 2005, including three substantial acquisitions, two recapitalizations, a product line divestiture and a merger.
RoundTable Healthcare Partners, Lake Forest, IL, is an operating-oriented private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. The partners of RoundTable have significant experience in managing, operating, acquiring and financing multibillion-dollar diversified healthcare companies. RoundTable partners with companies that can benefit from its extensive industry relationships and proven operating and transaction expertise. RoundTable currently manages two equity funds totaling $900 million in capital. More information about RoundTable Healthcare Partners and its investments can be found at www.roundtablehp.com.