November 3, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Integra LifeSciences says it plans to spin out its spine business as a stand-alone publicly traded company under the SeaSpine brand it acquired 3 years ago.
Integra LifeSciences (NSDQ:IART) said today that it plans to spin out its spine business as a stand-alone public company under the SeaSpine brand so it can focus on its surgical solutions, orthopedics and tissue technology businesses.
Integra acquired Vista, Calif.-based SeaSpine for $89 million in 2011, doubling its distribution footprint and customer base in the U.S. spine market. SeaSpine co-founder and former CEO Kirt Stephenson is in line to be named chairman of the company’s latest iteration and a search for a CEO is under way, according to a press release.
“These strategic changes create a much stronger platform for organic growth and execution, and we believe both companies will grow faster separately than together,” president & CEO Peter Arduini said in prepared remarks. “Moving forward, Integra will have a simpler, more focused structure from which to operate, which should improve our ability to achieve our longer-term growth and margin improvement objectives. Further, we believe these moves create exciting opportunities for our shareholders and both organizations.”
The spinout is expected to close within the next 12 months, according to the release, in the form of a tax-free distribution to Integra shareholders. Integra said it will create a new specialty surgical solutions business to leverage its existing neurosurgery and instruments operations.
