Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), a medical technology company, agreed to acquire RF Surgical Systems for roughly $235 million, the latest in a string of smaller deals since the medical-device maker’s acquisition of Covidien.
RF Surgical, which is based in Carlsbad, California, makes products that focus on counting items used during surgery—such as surgical sponges, gauze or towels—to help prevent them from being left in the patient during surgery, which can lead to serious complications.
RF Surgical will be incorporated into the company's surgical solutions business.
“Patients are our priority,” said Chris Barry, senior vice president of Medtronic's surgical innovations in the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, in a statement. “Improving patient safety and outcomes is our daily focus, which directly aligns with the RF Surgical technology, a simple and cost-effective solution to avoidable complications in surgical procedures.”
There are as many as 4,000 cases of retained surgical items annually in the U.S., according to NoThing Left Behind, a voluntary initiative started in 2004 to improve surgical patient safety.
The purchase is expected to meet Medtronic’s long-term financial metrics for acquisitions, though the deal’s effect on yearly earnings isn’t expected to be material.
Dublin, Ireland-based Medtronic last month agreed to acquire privately held medical-device company Aptus Endosystems for roughly $110 million and cardiac-mapping company CardioInsight Technologies in a deal valued at $93 million.
Also in June, Medtronic reported a net loss of $1 million in its first combined quarter with Covidien, largely because of $880 million in charges for the Covidien acquisition and a $329 million expense from the resolution of a tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service.
The deal will bring a payday to Eden Prairie-based venture capital firm Split Rock Partners, which led a $12 million round of financing for the company in 2011.
The RF Surgical deal is expected to close next month.
Shares of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) rose 0.9 percent to $75.05 at 2:42 p.m. in New York. The stock is up 4 percent this year.