Montagu planning to sell BSN Medical

Buyout firm Montagu Private Equity is planning to sell its German wound-care and bandage business BSN Medical GmbH & Co KG, and has hired Morgan Stanley as advisors.

Montagu bought BSN Medical, valued currently at around €1.7 billion ($2.6 billion), from Hamburg-based bandage maker Beiersdorf AG and British medical appliances group Smith & Nephew Plc for 1.03 billion euros in 2005.

Morgan Stanley may also recommend alternatives to a sale, including expanding the business and making acquisitions, source said.

BSN Medical is a global supplier in the glomal market for professional medical products, providing applications for general wound care, noninvasive orthopedics and phlebology.

BSN Medical, meanwhile, acquired FLA Orthopedics Inc in the US from its private equity owner for an undisclosed sum last year and, in 2006, it acquired compression therapy business Cognon-Morin SA in France.

BSN Medical reported revenues of €560 million in 2007, compared with €526 million in 2005, and annual growth in excess of 4.5 per cent.

BSN, which makes medical dressings, casts and bandages, could be of interest to rival companies in the sector considering the strong demand for wound care businesses, which produce steady cash flows and are relatively resistant to economic downturns.

BSN generated revenue of 560 million euros and showed growth of more than 4.5 per cent last year.