China-focused private equity firm Boyu Capital has agreed to buy Hong Kong-based medical devices maker Quasar at a valuation of over $600 million, Bloomberg reported.
The transaction, which is expected to close “soon”, has gained the support of Quasar’s global healthcare customers, per the report.
In May, Reuters reported that private equity firms including Hillhouse Capital, BPEA EQT, and General Atlantic are eyeing Longreach Group-owned Quasar, citing sources with knowledge of the transaction.
The news comes as industry players expect an uptick in M&A activities in China’s healthcare sector.
“We will see increasing M&A activity. Not only because a lot of companies need cash to keep going but also because more China-based healthcare and biotech companies have become big enough to gain an appetite to do acquisitions,” Kan Chen, partner at Qiming Venture Partners had told DealStreetAsia in an interview in April. He added that many Chinese PR firms and corporations have become one of the driving forces in the area.
China-based buyers and investors sealed five of the largest healthcare M&A deals in Q1, per a Capital IQ-Bain & Co analysis.
Founded in 1988 in Israel, Quasar specialises in the production of minimally-invasive devices, with offices in China, Israel, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Ireland, and the US.
The Longreach Group, a private equity firm based in Tokyo and Hong Kong, had acquired a majority interest in Quasar in 2019 for an undisclosed amount.