Orthofix International Announces Signing of Agreement to Sell Sports Medicine Business Unit to Water Street Healthcare Partners for $157.5M

Orthofix International N.V., OFIX (the Company) announced today that it entered into a definitive agreement under which Water Street Healthcare Partners, a strategic private equity firm focused exclusively on the health care industry, will acquire Orthofix's Sports Medicine Business Unit, which operates as Breg, Inc. The purchase price is $157.5 million and is payable in cash at closing, which is expected to occur during the second fiscal quarter of 2012. Net proceeds to Orthofix from the sale are anticipated to be approximately $140 million, which will be used for the prepayment of debt as required by Orthofix's existing credit agreement. The Company acquired its Sports Medicine business in 2003 with the purchase of Breg, which is headquartered in Carlsbad, CA. The Sports Medicine business provides a portfolio of bracing and cold therapy products to treat a variety of sports medicine related conditions. “With the divestiture of the Sports Medicine business, we are now able to devote Orthofix's full resources and attention to strengthening our value proposition around our repair hardware and regenerative biologics and stimulation solutions,” said Robert Vaters, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe this deleveraging event and resulting borrowing capacity will allow us to expand and enhance both our Spine and Orthopedic business units in a way that accelerates our ability to create shareholder value.”