October 14, 2015 — AtriCure Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which AtriCure has agreed to acquire nContact Inc., a privately held developer of innovative cardiac ablation solutions.
The transaction consideration consists of an upfront payment of approximately 3.7 million shares of AtriCure common stock, valued at $24.60 per share, and approximately $8 million in cash, subject to closing adjustments. The transaction also includes up to $50 million in additional contingent consideration based on completion of enrollment of the CONVERGE IDE trial and PMA approval. Additionally, nContact shareholders are entitled to additional sales-based contingent consideration on revenue in excess of an annual growth rate of greater than 25 percent through 2019. All contingent consideration can be paid in either cash or AtriCure common stock, or a combination of both.
The transaction will combine two companies focused on treatment of the most serious forms of atrial fibrillation and is expected to:
- Expand AtriCure’s addressable market;
- Complement and expand AtriCure’s current product portfolio and minimally invasive (MIS) intellectual property portfolio;
- Enhance AtriCure’s commitment to clinical science with the CONVERGE IDE clinical trial;
- Accelerate and sustain AtriCure’s revenue growth rate; and
- Drive continued margin expansion and operating leverage opportunities.
nContact, based in Morrisville, North Carolina, develops and markets a portfolio of innovative devices that provide for less invasive ablation options for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. The company’s technology is used in the Convergent procedure, a multidisciplinary therapy in which a closed-chest surgical epicardial ablation is performed, and then complemented by an endocardial catheter ablation performed by an electrophysiologist.
nContact is currently conducting the CONVERGE IDE clinical trial, the first head-to-head study to evaluate the Convergent procedure versus catheter ablation in patients with persistent Afib. In addition to the ongoing IDE trial, individual center results have been published in numerous peer reviewed papers.
Subject to customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the next several weeks. AtriCure shareholder approval is not required.
For more information: www.atricure.com