Jobs at Galway-based Brivant Medical are expected to be preserved, and even expanded, after joining forces with another medical device company.
Lake Region Medical Ltd, based in New Ross, Wexford, and a subsidiary of the closely-held Lake Region Medical in Chaska, Minnesota, announced recently that it has acquired Brivant Medical in Galway.
Both the American and the Irish companies are global OEM leaders for medical device guidewires and related products for minimally-invasive cardiac surgery and other procedures.
Brivant Medical and Lake Region Medical Ltd currently employ approximately 800 people at the two locations. A spokesperson has said that the new acquisition “will preserve, and ultimately expand, jobs at the company sites in Galway and New Ross, Ireland, and Chaska, Minnesota”.
Lake Region Medical Ltd has been doing business in New Ross since 1994 while the US parent company, with more than 1,500 employees globally, has more than 50 years’ experience in the medical device arena.
It is believed that the newly aligned companies complement each other and will allow Lake Region Medical a greater global competitive edge in the medical device and equipment market valued at $246 billion by 2011. Brivant Medical’s expertise, technology, research and development, operations, and product portfolio readily strengthen Lake Region Medical’s presence in the interventional guidewire marketplace.
“Lake Region Medical will build upon Brivant Medical’s R&D, technological innovations, and streamlined processes to deliver a wide range of OEM steerable guidewires for use in interventional cardiology and peripheral applications,” said Joseph F Fleischhacker, Lake Region Medical CEO. “Its reputation for exemplary customer service and Brivant Medical’s high-quality solutions, hard working employees, and geographic base will extend Lake Region Medical’s ability to deliver current — and new — industry-leading products and services to the medical device industry.”
“Based on performance, Brivant Medical has a very stable and capable management team,” said Ron Von Wald, Global Marketing Director. “Lake Region Medical not only purchased Brivant Medical for its assets, but also for its outstanding personnel at all levels of the organisation.”
