LONDON: Uniphar plc has announced acquisition of Nordic-based medtech service provider, EPS Group and Irish-based medtech service provider M3 Medical Limited.

The EPS Group comprises EPS Vascular AB and EP Endovascular AB, both registered in Sweden and EPS Vascular OY registered in Finland. M3 Medical is an Irish registered business.

Both the EPS Group and M3 Medical deliver sales, marketing and distribution services to medical device manufacturers in the therapeutic areas of interventional cardiology and vascular medicine.

The EPS Group delivers these services across Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Baltics, while M3 Medical’s services extend exclusively to the Irish market.

This cluster of acquisitions represent another important development in the roll-out of Uniphar’s pan-European growth strategy for its Commercial & Clinical division, which is focussed on acquiring local expertise and broadening its capacity to provide sales, marketing and distribution services for medical device manufacturers on a pan-European basis.

On a proforma basis for the full year ending 31 December 2019, these acquisitions in aggregate are expected to deliver revenue of an estimated €22m. Both the EPS Group and M3 Medical will be integrated into the Commercial & Clinical Medtech division of Uniphar. The total potential consideration payable to the vendors of the EPS Group and M3 Medical is €40m over four years, the deferred consideration to be linked to EBITDA performance over the four years.

Ger Rabbette, CEO of Uniphar said: “We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues from EPS and M3 to the Uniphar Group. These acquisitions are a key strategic step in Uniphar’s plan to offer its pharmaco-medical clients a pan-European service by adding new countries and new agencies to our roster. With this development, we add to our already considerable expertise in the area of interventional technologies in key therapeutic areas, and Uniphar advances its ambition to become a leading independent distributor of medical devices throughout Europe. We expect to invest in these platforms in the short term as part of growing our unique and compelling proposition to emerging and specialist medical device manufacturers seeking a commercial partnership across their European business.”

Joakim Eriksson, CEO of EPS Vascular said: “We are delighted to be joining the Uniphar Group. We have built a strong relationship with the Uniphar management team and know that we share common values around technical excellence and impeccable customer service. Uniphar’s impressive scale in medical devices in Europe offers an opportunity for us to work with their existing manufacturer clients in the Nordics while continuing to develop the existing EPS manufacturer base. We are excited to be part of a Group with such strong ambitions in Europe and with the talent and expertise to make those ambitions a reality.”

Killian O’Dowd, MD of M3 Medical: “We at M3 Medical are excited to join the Uniphar Group. It gives us the opportunity to develop our existing relationships and to extend these across new geographies through Uniphar’s growing European offering. Uniphar’s scale, digital solutions, regulatory expertise and impressive ambition in Europe will be a great platform for M3 Medical to grow and flourish in the years to come.”

The acquisition of the EPS Group and M3 Medical were financed out of the proceeds of the placing completed alongside the listing of the Group’s shares on 17 July 2019.