America’s Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, a medical devices company which focuses on heart diseases, has agreed to acquire Israeli startup Valtech Cardio Ltd.. The developer of the Cardioband System for transcatheter repair of the mitral and tricuspid valves is goinng for upwards of $1 billion in cash and stock.
Edwards will pay Valtech $340 million in stock and cash at closing, with the potential for up to $350 million in milestone payments over the next 10 years and another $300 million in the future for Valtech’s early-stage transseptal mitral valve replacement technology program.
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Separately, Edwards’ Board of Directors has authorized a new share repurchase program to acquire up to $1 billion of the company’s outstanding common shares. Edwards also has $277 million remaining on its current $750 million share repurchase program, which was authorized in July 2014. This authorization enabled the company to repurchase shares to offset the dilution of the Valtech transaction, and continue executing its share repurchase strategies.
The Cardioband System is not approved for sale in the United States.
Valtech Cardio was founded in 2016 by CEO Amir Gross, Yossi Gross, and Peregrine Ventures leads by Eyal Lifshitz and Boaz Lifshitz. The company has raised $70 million to date. In January 2016 American HeartWare canceld an $860 million Valtech Cardio acquisition because it said that “circumstances have changed”
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation chairman and CEO Michael A. Mussallem said, “As we continue to pursue multiple therapies to address the diverse needs of patients affected by heart valve disease, we saw an important opportunity to incorporate Valtech’s technologies into our comprehensive heart valve repair and replacement portfolio. We recognize that physicians will likely need a toolbox of options to treat their patients most effectively. We are very pleased with the progress and future prospects of the multiple internal programs we have underway, and we believe the addition of Valtech’s talented team and mitral and tricuspid technologies will present even more opportunities to help patients.”
