Baker Tilly advises BHM Group on acquisition of insolvent medical technology manufacturer

In addition, the Czech private equity company is acquiring the medifa H!Light brand from the insolvency estate of medifa healthcare group GmbH, which is also insolvent. The North Rhine-Westphalian company’s business operations will be continued in Finnentrop under the name medifa GmbH from March 1, 2023. The location and the jobs are secured by the takeover.

Partner Stephan Zuber (M&A), who led the transaction, together with partners Dr. Alexander Fridgen (Insolvency Law) and Uwe Roth (Tax Advisor) provided comprehensive advice to the client with a comprehensive Baker Tilly team: Director Stefan Lehner, Tax Advisor (Tax), Senior Manager Daniela Konle, Attorney-at-Law (M&A), Senior Manager Thomas Böhm, Attorney-at-Law (Corporate Real Estate) and Senior Manager Sonja Dechansreiter, Attorney-at-Law (Corporate M&A) were also involved in the engagement.

“For BHM Group, German insolvency law and the specifics of buying out of insolvency were particularly challenging, even though this is not unfamiliar territory for our client following the acquisition of Köttermann Labortechnik in 2018,” Zuber said of the transaction’s specific starting position. “In light of this, our expertise and experience in this area made a valuable contribution and provided crucial support to our client in order to bring this time-critical transaction out of a special situation to success."

BHM Group is a Prague-based private equity company that invests inter alia in the medical technology sector. To this end, BHM is pursuing the consistent development of a new group of EU-based medical device manufacturers under the name BHM MedTech Group, with a focus on operating room and laboratory equipment. BHM MedTech Group includes brands such as Köttermann, BLOCK, ALVO Medical and most recently FAMED Zywiec, etc.

Medifa GmbH & Co. KG, based in Finnentrop in the Sauerland region, is now another component of its successful buy-and-build strategy. By integrating medifa into MedTech Group, BHM plans to achieve significant synergies, particularly in the areas of sales, procurement and R&D, and to further consolidate this market. The MedTech Group companies now generate consolidated annual sales of €160 million and employ over 1,000 people across Europe.

Medifa's product and service portfolio covers the complete range from mobile operating tables and surgical accessories, surgical lights, and modular wall, door and ceiling systems to examination chairs for gynecology, urology and proctology. In 2022, the company had to file for insolvency.

“The fact that the client chose Baker Tilly underscores both our industry expertise in the area of medical devices and other life science companies and our particular expertise in distressed M&A,” Zuber said.