Bridgepoint picks up French med-tech company

Bridgepoint, through its Bridgepoint Europe V fund, is acquiring French medical technology company Balt. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The firm will work with the Plowiecki family, founders of the company that designs, manufactures and distributes interventional neuro radiology devices used to treat strokes and aneurisms, it said. The firm aims to accelerate growth and capture market share in a sector that is forecast to grow between 12 and 15 percent over the next five years.

The company has a number of patent-protected proprietary products, including catheters, stents and coils. It generated business volumes of €100 million in 2014, with 95 percent of revenues from outside France, Bridgepoint said.

The transaction is the second made by Bridgepoint’s Paris office this year, following the firm’s acquisition of alternative investment software company eFront in January from Francisco Partners for €300 million, as reported by Private Equity International.

Bridgepoint Europe V is a €4 billion, 2014-vintage vehicle that closed in March, exceeding its original target of €3.5 billion. Its limited partners include a number of US pension funds, such as the California Public Employees Retirement System and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, as well as corporates including Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, according to PEI’s Research & Analytics division.

The firm’s European division focuses on middle market buyout opportunities in companies with a typical size of €200 million to €1 billion, while Bridgepoint Development Capital invests in smaller buyouts and growth capital investments in companies typically valued at €50 million to €150 million.

In July, the firm agreed to sell cruise operator Ponant to Artémis in a transaction that generated a 2.9x return for Bridgepoint’s Fund IV, as reported by PEI. That followed the sale in March of its investment in sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media to Dalian Wanda Group in a transaction totalling €1.05 billion.