Adhesives manufacturing giant, HB Fuller, has put £715m ($942.5m) on the table to acquire wound care specialist Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS) – potentially adding some differentiated offerings to its wound care portfolio, while bolstering its European footprint.
Through this possible deal, HB Fuller would pay £2.85 per share for AMS – a move that HB Fuller says could expand its total addressable market by $15bn, to $95bn.
Upon the debut of this news, AMS’s shares jumped nearly 16% on the London Stock Exchange, reaching a value of £2.78 at market open on 25 June compared with its £2.40 closing value on 24 June – the highest share value the company has logged since February 2023.
If AMS were to accept this buyout offer, the acquisition would significantly extend HB Fuller’s medical offering, which the company’s president and CEO, Celeste Mastin, notes is a “core strategic growth market … given its durable demand trends, high regulatory-based entry barriers and margin profile”.
The potential takeover would also broaden HB Fuller’s medical offering by adding formulated biosurgicals, as well as tissue bonding adhesives, tapes and dressings to its arsenal, which currently includes stick-to-skin adhesives, personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical device assembly tools.
On top of its product offering, HB Fuller hopes to leverage AMS’s European market reach and regulatory expertise to further penetrate the medical market, as the latter’s European salesforce operations across Europe and understanding of regulatory pathways could allow for the company’s continued growth in this space.
HB Fuller also predicts that the potential AMS takeover would add around $300m in annual revenues – assisting the company in meeting its long-term target of achieving 5% annual constant currency revenue growth.
If AMS chooses to join forces with HB Fuller, the wound care specialist would become the twelfth company acquired by the latter player since 2023. While the transaction is yet to be confirmed, AMS’s board has unanimously recommended this deal to its shareholders.
"As part of the combined larger medical adhesives platform, AMS and HB Fuller will benefit from enhanced commercial, manufacturing and distribution capabilities, which should accelerate the delivery of our strategy and broaden our offering to patients in the US, Europe and beyond," said Grahame Cook, Chair of AMS.
According to a GlobalData report, Investor AB subsidiary Molnlycke Health Care leads the EU5 wound dressings market, and analysts predict that advanced dressings will dominate the market over wound contact layers and superabsorbent up to the end of the forecast period in 2033.
