Medtronic finally bags Intersect ENT

A year after a rumoured bid by Medtronic for Intersect ENT, the deal is finally official. In paying $28.25 per share, or $1.1bn in total, the big medtech is not getting the bargain it might have done in mid-2020, but the target is still likely cheaper than it would have been before Covid-19 hit. Intersect, which makes bioresorbable drug-eluting nasal implants to treat sinusitis, suffered in the pandemic as elective procedures were postponed, but bounced back during its second quarter, when revenues grew 180% to $27m, albeit against a weak comparator period. Still, Medtronic will need to boost these numbers further to justify the money it is paying, and Stifel analysts reckon the group’s marketing muscle could drive double-digit Intersect sales growth. Medtronic is focused on tuck-in deals, which could mean anything up to several billion dollars, its chief executive, Geoff Martha, said during the group’s fourth-quarter earnings call. The Intersect purchase is much bigger than Medtronic’s last buy, Medicrea International, for just €139m ($158m). But even a $1bn acquisition is not huge by this year’s standards in the broader medtech space, as a look at the deals agreed this year shows.