Natus Medical announced yesterday that it will acquire SonaMed, a privately held company based in Waltham, MA.
SonaMed manufactures and markets the Clarity Screener for the screening of hearing loss in newborns. The company reported revenues of $3.5 million in 2007.
According to Jim Hawkins, Natus’ President and CEO, “SonaMed has successfully created a distinct presence in the domestic newborn hearing screening market. We believe SonaMed is a very well run company that has been consistently profitable for many years.”
Earlier this month, Natus priced an offering to sell 770,000 shares of common stock at $18.27 per share, in all likelihood meant to offset SonaMed’s purchase price. Net proceeds were approximately $13.4 million. The acquisition will be accretive to Natus’ earnings in the first full quarter of ownership. Natus raked in $118 million last year and expects revenues of $160 million in 2008.
Natus already enjoys an 80% market share in the U.S. newborn hearing screening market. Approximately 95% of the children born in the U.S. are currently being tested for hearing impairment prior to discharge from the hospital. As such, the U.S. market is mature. Growth in the company’s newborn hearing loss screening segment will come mostly from abroad where less than one-in-four newborns are being tested.
Like Natus, most of Sonamed’s revenues (two-thirds) are recurring and generated from the sale of disposables. These supplies sell at very a high gross profit margin. Natus may face increasing competition from independent suppliers offering lower prices, according to its most recent annual report.
Sources estimate that 1 – 6 out of 1000 newborns will have congenital hearing loss. The first three years of life, and especially the first six months, are critical for normal speech and language development; if left unidentified, a child is at a significant disadvantage for the remainder of their life.