Funding for Wampole Labs Acquisition and Working Capital in U.S. and Abroad
BOSTON, Dec. 2, 2002 – Covington Associates announced today that it acted as financial advisor and arranger in connection with a $55 million senior debt financing for its client, Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. The debt facility was put in place to support Inverness’ acquisitions and operations in the United States and Europe as the Company establishes its preeminence in the women’s health and clinical diagnostic markets.
The senior debt facility, led by GE Healthcare Financial Services, was issued to Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. (AMEX:IMA), in connection with the September acquisition of Wampole Laboratories and for ongoing working capital needs. Inverness is a leading provider of women’s health and nutritional products and developer of advanced medical device technologies. Covington Associates advised Inverness on the transaction and acted as arranger for the financing involving GE Healthcare Financial Services, KeyBank National Association and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.
“This financing package provides Inverness with working capital and establishes relationships with three strong financial institutions, including GE Healthcare Financial Services, a leader in healthcare finance, and will provide us with a platform for future growth,” said Tony Bernardo, Chief Operating Officer of Inverness Medical Innovations. “Covington Associates was able to structure a financing package that provides both domestic and overseas funding capacity, an accomplishment in a very tight credit environment.”
Covington Associates arranged the multi-jurisdictional financing for Inverness, following up on its role as M&A advisor for the Wampole Laboratories transaction and a series of earlier deals. “This is a highly complex financing that will support acquisitions and operations both domestically and internationally for Inverness,” said Tom Cibotti, a partner at Covington.
Covington Associates has a nine-year relationship with Inverness, which has been steadily building its women’s health, nutritional and chronic disease management capabilities since its emergence as a spin-off entity in November 2001 upon sale of its diabetes-related business to Johnson & Johnson. Covington Associates also advised Inverness on a $1.3 billion spin-off deal with Johnson & Johnson and the recent acquisitions of Wampole Laboratories, a leader in the U.S. point-of-care diagnostics market, from MedPointe, Inc.; IVC Industries Inc., a vitamin and nutritional supplement manufacturer; and Unipath, Ltd., a manufacturer and distributor of home pregnancy testing and fertility prediction products to global markets.
Inverness Medical Innovations manufactures and sells products for the women’s health and nutritional product markets and is engaged in the business of developing, acquiring, manufacturing, and marketing advanced medical device technologies. The Company’s women’s health and nutritional products are distributed to consumers through established retail distribution networks such as Wal-Mart, Walgreens and CVS. The Company is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Covington Associates are seasoned M&A advisors to technology and healthcare companies. Focused exclusively on mergers and acquisitions, Covington Associates has established a track record of success based on deep domain experience and an unrivaled level of service from a team of senior advisors. Since its founding in 1991, Covington Associates has successfully completed transactions ranging in value from $10 million to more than $1 billion.