Smiths Group has sold Wallace, the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) segment of Smiths Medical, to CooperSurgical for £140m.
Wallace manufactures products such as micropipettes, needles and catheters for assisted reproduction and IVF.
The business produces a complete line of micropipettes for IVF procedures, including intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), holding, embryo biopsy, assisted hatching such as zona drilling and partial zona dissection (PZD), as well as blastomere biospy pipettes for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).
Wallace generated revenues of about £20m in the last fiscal year ended on 31 July.
Smiths Group chief executive Andy Reynolds Smith said: “This disposal demonstrates our ongoing commitment to focus our portfolio on building scalable technology differentiated leadership positions in our chosen markets.
“Wallace has a long and distinguished history in IVF and Smiths is proud to have played a role in developing the business over our 24 years of ownership.”
Cooper president and CEO Robert Weiss said: "This acquisition is a great strategic fit with our existing IVF portfolio as Wallace brings the gold standard of embryo transfer catheters along with several other premier products such as oocyte retrieval needles.”
CooperSurgical provides range of products and services for women's health, fertility and genetic testing.
Image: Smiths Group chief executive Andy Reynolds Smith. Photo: courtesy of Bob Wheeler.