Onera Health, a leader in sleep diagnostic and monitoring solutions, closed a €30M ($32M) Series C financing round. The all-equity round was led by EQT Life Sciences and co-led by Gimv, with existing investors Innovation Industries, Invest-NL, imec.xpand, BOM, and 15th Rock participating.

EQT Life Sciences is pleased to announce that the EQT Health Economics strategy has invested in Onera Health (or “the Company”), a pioneer and leader in remote sleep diagnostic and monitoring solutions enabling clinicians to conduct sleep studies anytime, anywhere. This Series C financing round was led by EQT Life Sciences, co-led by new investor Gimv, and joined by existing investors, including Innovation Industries, Invest-NL, imec.xpand, BOM, and 15th Rock.

Onera Health focuses on breakthrough sleep testing solutions that are quick, convenient, and clinically accurate. With more than one in four of the adult western population suffering from some form of sleep disorder, the Company’s technology enables clinicians to better research and ultimately address disorders that can have a major impact on people’s health. The user-centric technology of their polysomnography (PSG) system brings clinical-grade PSG diagnostics and monitoring directly to the patient’s bed — in the comfort of their own home. The MedTech and Digital Health company operates in the U.S., the Benelux, and the DACH region.

This strong backing will allow the Company to accelerate manufacturing and deployment plans to meet the growing customer demand for its innovative, self-applied, no-wire end-to-end solution. Furthermore, the company intends to use the funds to expedite the clearance of the second generation of its PSG system in Europe and the United States, further underlining the ambition to position itself as a leader in home PSG within the field of sleep medicine.

Drew Burdon, Partner at EQT Life Sciences, said: “We all know the effect of a bad night’s sleep on our day. But for those that suffer with sleep disorders, this is more than an inconvenience, and can have a major long-term impact on their health. Onera Health’s disruptive medical technology is helping accelerate the diagnosis of these disorders and has the potential to have a meaningful impact on society. The Company has demonstrated a very strong product-market fit with great potential to improve the quality of patient care, whilst also positively impacting the cost of healthcare. Onera is a fantastic fit for the EQT Health Economics strategy and we could not be more thrilled to be supporting the next phase of their journey.”

“We are delighted that two premier Life Sciences investors, as well as our existing world-class investors, have the confidence to join and support us in the next phase of our company journey,” said Ruben de Francisco, Founder and CEO of Onera Health. “This capital infusion will accelerate our ability to scale in the US and Europe. We will continue aggressively investing in R&D, customer success, and geographic expansion to help the medical field provide the much-needed answers for millions of people affected by sleep disorders. We are incredibly proud and humbled by our success to date and look forward to driving growth together with our new partners.”

As part of this transaction, Drew Burdon and Michaël Vlemmix (Partner, Gimv) will join Onera Health’s Board of Directors.

Contacts
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com

• The new EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy builds on EQT’s 30-year healthcare track record and will focus on scaling innovative, fast-growing healthcare companies to help deliver positive outcomes across the value chain
• By helping companies build commercial muscle and expand their global reach, the Strategy aims to enable the development of medical research, diagnostics, tools and treatments to deliver more effective, efficient and accessible healthcare
• Mabtech is a leading provider of high-quality antibody tools and kits, used predominantly for vaccine, infectious diseases, and oncology research, based in Sweden. EQT Healthcare Growth will support Mabtech as it expands its product portfolio and reach, especially in the US

EQT is excited to introduce the EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy(or the “strategy”) and announce its first investment, Mabtech, which is being acquired from the IK Small Cap II Fund.

Introducing the EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy
Long-term trends – such as growing, aging, and less healthy populations, significant unmet medical needs, and rising healthcare costs – are leading to a greater need for better, more efficient, and accessible healthcare. At the same time, scientific breakthroughs and advancements in technology and data are accelerating healthcare innovation. This is increasing the opportunity to invest in innovative and differentiated products and services that seek to deliver positive outcomes across the value chain. The opportunity is particularly compelling in Europe, where there are a growing number of companies in need of capital, expertise, and global reach to help them scale and unlock their full growth potential.

Against this backdrop, EQT is introducing the EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy. The buyout strategy will apply EQT’s active ownership approach and invest in the same healthcare subsectors that the firm has invested in for 30 years. The dedicated Advisory Team is led by Maarten de Jong, who joined EQT earlier this year from Moelis & Company, where he led the expansion of its healthcare franchise. The EQT Healthcare Growth Advisory Team includes three further partners: Geraldine O’Keeffe, joining from EQT Life Sciences, Isabel de Paoli, joining from EQT Private Equity and previously Chief Strategy Officer at Merck KG, and Mark Braganza, who recently joined from Sun European Partners and was previously at GHO and TPG, where he focused on healthcare investing.

Maarten de Jong said: “I’m delighted to have joined EQT to establish and lead the EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy, alongside a fantastic team. The new strategy will invest in innovative, fast-growing, proven healthcare companies, predominantly based in Europe. Applying EQT’s proven approach and leveraging its global network, we will help these companies build their commercial muscle and expand their global reach. In doing so, we seek to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for clients while scaling positive outcomes across the healthcare value chain.”

Mabtech becomes the EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy’s first investment
Mabtech is a category leading provider of tests and kits for studying immune responses predominantly in vaccine, infectious diseases, and oncology research. Based in Sweden, it has over 900 customers in more than 60 countries. Its products and services are focused on critical and often irreplaceable techniques used in antibody-based immunology research processes, particularly ELISpot and FluoroSpot kits. The market for these kits is accelerating, on top of the broader oncology, immunology and vaccines-related research market that is also growing.

Commenting on the acquisition of Mabtech, responsible Partner Isabel de Paoli said: “This is a high-quality player with deep technical and scientific expertise in a growing niche market, that we have been following for many years. By offering ‘must-haves’ along the drug development value chain and building on its leading position in Europe, Mabtech is well-placed to expand its scale and reach, especially in the US. This is an ideal example of the kind of company that the EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy seeks to continue investing in: it’s a fast-growing European champion with innovative, proven solutions that drive positive healthcare outcomes. We look forward to working with Jan Wahlström and team to help Mabtech reach its full growth potential.”

The EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy builds on EQT’s 30-year track record
The strategy is fully integrated into and benefits from the broader EQT Private Capital platform and global healthcare sector vertical. Combining the deep scientific expertise and ability to identify emerging trends of EQT Life Sciences with EQT Private Equity’s value creation playbook and prior experience in high-growth, mid-market buyouts, the strategy is well placed to identify and support healthcare companies on their mission to scale rapidly and deliver positive healthcare outcomes.

Michael Bauer, Partner and Co-Head of EQT’s Global Healthcare Sector Team, added: “The introduction of the EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy builds on EQT’s three decades of healthcare experience. To date, we have invested over EUR 23 billion in more than 200 companies, from early-stage to buyout. Today, we have a healthcare team of more than 120 dedicated investment professionals across 20 countries supported by a network of approximately 150 advisors. With EQT Healthcare Growth, we’re adding the final piece to the puzzle so that we can support healthcare companies in every stage of their development. This market segment requires a unique combination of skills, and we are very proud of the caliber of team we have assembled to meet this opportunity.”

The acquisition of Mabtech is subject to customary conditions and approvals. It is expected to close in Q1 2024.

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 232 billion in total assets under management (EUR 128 billion in fee-generating assets under management), within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, X, YouTube and Instagram

About Mabtech
Mabtech is a Swedish biotech company developing immunoassays for life science research. Since 1986, Mabtech’s mission has been to aid research by providing the global scientific community with innovative tools. To that end, the company generates and produces a wide range of monoclonal antibodies, kits, peptide pools, and instruments for in vitro applications.

For more information, visit https://www.mabtech.com/    

RTI Surgical, an industry leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), serving the regenerative medicine industry, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cook Biotech Incorporated, a leader in advanced tissue-repair products from biomaterials, headquartered in West Lafayette, Indiana.

With the acquisition of Cook Biotech, RTI Surgical is taking another landmark step to reinforce its position as a unique CDMO in regenerative medicine. The combined entity will provide customers and surgeons access to new clinical segments and offer leading-edge expertise, scale and flexibility across end-to-end services including design, development, regulatory support, verification and validation, manufacturing and supply chain management. The acquisition will also reinforce RTI’s strategic focus on soft tissue clinical segments and enable its customers to leverage a clinically-proven portfolio of naturally-occurring bioresorbable materials designed to improve patients’ lives and outcomes.

Cook Biotech discovered the regenerative properties of porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) and pioneered the development of SIS tissue into a proven, regenerative biomaterial that is used in a variety of clinical applications. With the support of Cook Group, Cook Biotech has remained at the forefront of innovation in biomaterials and contributed to progressing science and solving unmet patient needs in fields such as nerve repair, cardiovascular, and drug delivery.

Olivier Visa, RTI Surgical President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are uniquely positioned to become a leading CDMO in regenerative medicine as an innovator of differentiated allograft and xenograft biomaterials, and we look forward to welcoming the Cook Biotech team and leveraging their world-class talents and capabilities in xenograft development and processing to better address patient needs together.”

RTI’s acquisition of Cook Biotech is backed by its main shareholder Montagu, who is increasing its investment in the group and contributing its carve-out experience and capabilities to the transaction.

Adrien Sassi, Partner at Montagu, said: “We are committed to supporting both companies in reaching their full potential by leveraging proven technologies to create a platform for innovation that enables surgeons to better address the unique needs of their patients. We are excited to extend our support to RTI’s development and proud that Cook Group are trusting us for Cook Biotech’s next phase of development.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2024.

Eurazeo and its affiliates have entered into exclusive discussions to sell DORC (“Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center”) to Carl Zeiss Meditec AG for an enterprise value of approximately €1bn. The Eurazeo Mid-large buyout team¹ has been supporting the company as a majority shareholder since 2019 and under its ownership, DORC has become one of the world-leading ophthalmic surgery platforms leading the growth game in the Vitreoretinal (“VR”) and Cataract market.

Under the terms of this agreement, the transaction is expected to yield over 2.6x gross cash on cash and 24% gross internal rate of return (IRR) on its original investment, including proceeds of the refinancing closed in December 2021. Upon closing of the transaction, c.€385m of gross proceed would be returned to Eurazeo balance sheet. Closing of the transaction remains subject to completion of the relevant information and consultation process with the employee representative body of the company and applicable regulatory approvals.

Established in 1983, and headquartered in the Netherlands, DORC is a world-leading and high growth ophthalmic surgery platform benefiting from a strong global market position as #2 player in VR packs² and #1 player in dyes. The company has developed a high-quality and innovative product offering which includes EVA Nexus™, the most advanced dual-function system. In 2023, the Company is expected to deliver €200m net sales with an installed base of over 2,100 systems placed worldwide supported by an organization of over 750 FTEs.

As part of our conviction-driven and sector-focused investment strategy, we identified DORC as a compelling investment opportunity and highly resilient business, with a recurring razor-razor blade revenue model and strong potential for value creation leveraging the Eurazeo’s playbook.

Over the last four years, the company has achieved strong growth underpinned by a bolstered management team strengthening DORC’s sectorial expertise and scale, intensified international expansion strategy with the setup of Chinese operations and approval and launch of EVA Nexus™ in 2022. DORC continued to invest in innovation and R&D driving market leading vitality index³ over 25% and successful completed two strategic acquisitions in Germany and the US. As a result, DORC has increased its strategic value and attracted the interest from a variety of strategic buyers including Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, headquartered in Germany with a focus on ophthalmology and microsurgery. The company offers complete solutions, including implants and consumables, to diagnose and treat eye diseases. The acquisition of DORC will enhance and complement Zeiss’ broad ophthalmic portfolio and expand its position in the VR surgery segment, further strengthening its position as the fastest growing manufacturer of ophthalmic devices globally.

Pierre Billardon, DORC CEO stated:

“ In the year when DORC celebrates 40 years of surgeon-inspired innovation in ophthalmic surgery, we enter a new phase of exciting potential for growth and advancing the future of ophthalmic surgery. I am personally proud and immensely grateful to all of the team at DORC for their expertise and commitment to help patients see again. “

Francesco Orsi, Managing Director – Mid-large buyout commented:

” We are proud of our partnership with Pierre Billardon and the DORC team to deliver on a shared vision to establish DORC as a world-leading and high growth ophthalmic surgery platform spearheading the fast-growing Dual market segment with the recently launched state-of-the art EVA Nexus™. Over the past four years, the Company has not only delivered on its innovation DNA but has significantly scaled internationally, including in the US and Asia, and unlocked further strategic value through two highly synergistic acquisitions. “

Dr. Markus Weber, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG said:

” With the acquisition of DORC, we’ll bring together two highly innovative ophthalmic powerhouses to accelerate Zeiss’s position in the vitreoretinal surgery segment and extend our leadership in the ophthalmic medical devices market. “

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(1) Part of the Eurazeo Mid Cap company

(2) Excluding China

(3) Share of DORC’s sales originating from new products

BRUSSELS AND ROTTERDAM – 4^th December 2023 – Faceland, a leading chain of branded medical aesthetics clinics in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland, has reached an agreement with Verlinvest, the Belgian-based, family-backed evergreen investment company, for it to acquire a majority stake in the business. This new partnership will enable Faceland to accelerate its expansion within the fast-growing European medical aesthetics market and execute upon its mission of improving access to high-quality cosmetic medicine for all patients.

Founded in 2013 in The Netherlands, Faceland stands apart from competition with its unique model, which offers clinically proven aesthetics treatments at accessible price points. Faceland’s services are all delivered by qualified medical professionals that are trained in-house through the company’s proprietary training academy. Faceland’s team of plastic surgeons, doctors, and nurses complies with the highest regulatory standards in each operating region and now performs over 130,000 treatments annually across its four core markets.

With co-founders Dr. Stijn Bauland and Ruud van de Handel at the helm, Faceland has grown to become one of the first regional platforms in Europe, building on its position as market leader in the Netherlands, to own 31 clinics across Benelux and have a growing presence in Germany and Switzerland. Dr. Bauland and Mr. Van den Handel have also set up an independent foundation in the Netherlands, which aims to professionalise and broaden access to cosmetic medicine by training nurses looking to move into the field, by offering free accredited seminars and courses for any health professional interested in the discipline of aesthetics. It also publishes medical and academic research papers, including in leading international scientific journals in cooperation with the Universities of Amsterdam and Groningen.

Faceland has achieved record growth in recent years, with sales up 25%+ over the last twelve months to reach c.€40m in FY23A, and +20 clinics opening between January 2020 and today.

Ruud van den Handel, Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of Faceland said, “Stijn and I are proud that over the last few years, Faceland’s brand has reached a critical mass where we are recognised thought leaders in the field of cosmetic medicine and both our patients and practitioners love working with us. We are thrilled to take this growth to the next level with Verlinvest’s experienced team by our side, as we scale into new markets, unlock Faceland’s potential for even greater innovation, and realise our vision of improving access to high-quality aesthetic medicine for all.”

Faceland will work together with Verlinvest’s team, many of whom are based on-the-ground in Benelux, to grow both its network of clinics and its much-loved consumer brand over the coming years. They will draw on Verlinvest’s experience of building successful branded healthcare platforms across Europe, including current and past investments in Nesto (vet care), Bludental (dental services), Sinomedica (medical acupuncture), and Armonea (senior care). The company’s ambitious plan is focused on rolling out a large number of new clinics using Greenfield and M&A strategies, thereby bringing Faceland’s high quality of medical care to as many patients as possible at affordable prices, as well as becoming the go-to employer for talented doctors and nurses.

Julius Hugelshofer, Senior Principal at Verlinvest said, “Stijn, Ruud and the team at Faceland are revolutionising and professionalising the fragmented medical aesthetics industry, which is growing rapidly and becoming a new norm in terms of personal health. The market is ready for a branded player to raise the overall standard of care at a price point that’s accessible for customers.” Roberto Italia, CEO at Verlinvest added, “Our vision for the aesthetics field sees top-quality care and operational excellence as essential levers to engage patient-customers in innovation-driven and sustainable long-term relationships. The approach that Stijn and Ruud have managed to develop consistently with Faceland over time is fully aligned and we look forward to partnering with them to build the company into a truly pan-European platform.”

The transaction will be subject to approval from the relevant regulatory bodies and stakeholder groups. It is expected to close in Q4 2023.

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About Faceland

Faceland was founded in 2013 in the Netherlands with the mission of improving access to cosmetic medicine and transforming it from a niche industry into mainstream medical care. A no-nonsense team of young executives, doctors and nurses set out on this mission, ensuring Faceland’s approach was focused on quality, customer satisfaction, accessibility, and value-for-money from the start. This strategy translated into sustained growth in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany, and Faceland now has 31 clinics in its network. Further international expansion remains an essential part of their vision. True to Faceland’s mission, co-founders Dr. Stijn Bauland and Ruud van de Handel have set up a Foundation which provides free courses on cosmetic medicine to health professionals and publishes research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.