Israeli medical device company Insightec is in advanced talks to merge with a SPAC (blank check) company and to list on Wall Street with a company valuation of $2 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter. Insightec has developed a device for minimally invasive surgery based on ultrasound.
Insightec CEO Maurice Ferre has already been involved in one SPAC merger of an Israeli medical company when robotic surgery company Memic agreed in August to merge with MedTech Acquisition Corp. at a company valuation of $1 billion. In the past, Ferre has said that he could see Insightec agreeing an exit worth tens of billions of dollars.
Insightec is controlled by US company Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), which has invested an overall $200 million for a 40% stake. In 2020, KDT led a $136 million financing round at a $1.3 billion valuation. In May 2021, Insightec's second largest shareholder York Capital sold its 7% stake at a company valuation of $1 billion to Peregrine Ventures and Israeli institutional investors Leumi Partners and Mor Investments. Elbit Medical, once a dominant investor in the company, has sold most of its shares and remains with a 3.1% stake.
The SPAC merger being planned would also provide Insightec with extra funding through a PIPE investment.
Insightec was founded in 1999 and has developed and markets a system for using focused MRI-guided ultrasound waves to destroy tissue, for treatment of non-Parkinson tremors, and to clear "blood-brain blockage." In the first half of 2021, the company reported revenue of $27 million compared with $14 million in the corresponding period of 2020. Insightec reported a net loss of $31 million in the first half of 2021 compared with a net loss of $27 million in the first half of 2020. The company had cash of $125 million at the end of the second quarter.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 13, 2021
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