Hillrom Acquires Breathe Technologies for $130M

Hillrom has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Breathe Technologies Inc., developer and manufacturer of a patented wearable, non-invasive ventilation technology that supports improved patient mobility, for a cash consideration of $130 million.
 
“The acquisition of a highly differentiated, wearable non-invasive ventilation technology provides an exciting growth platform that utilizes our direct Respiratory Care commercial channel and business model,” said Hillrom president and CEO John Groetelaars. “This transaction represents another example of our plan to strategically deploy capital with a disciplined approach toward higher-growth and higher-margin businesses by expanding into the disruptive new category of non-invasive ventilation.”
 
Founded in 2005, Breathe Technologies is dedicated to enabling healthier living and addressing additional unmet clinical and economic needs in respiratory care. The company is located in Irvine, California, with annual revenue of approximately $10 million. The Life2000 Ventilation System is a volume-control, wearable, non-invasive mechanical ventilation system for a broad range of reimbursable conditions in the home and critical-care settings, including COPD, interstitial lung disease, restrictive thoracic disorder and post-lung-transplant rehab. The wearable Life2000 Ventilator undocks from the stationary Life2000 Compressor to give freedom of range inside the home or can be used independently outside the home with an alternate pressure source.
 
The Life2000 Ventilation System has 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Breathe Technologies owns more than 100 patents in the U.S. and internationally, including a patented nasal pillow interface that preserves patients’ mobility and their quality of life.
 
Hillrom’s current Respiratory Care products, part of the Front Line Care business, include The Vest, Monarch Airway Clearance System, The MetaNeb System and VitalCough.
 
Hillrom expects this transaction to close during its fiscal fourth quarter of 2019, subject to customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to be modestly dilutive in the first year and increasingly accretive thereafter. In addition, Hillrom anticipates the acquisition will allow the company to benefit from at least $30 million of net operating losses.