Patricia Industries Signs Agreement to Acquire Sarnova from Company Founder and Water Street Healthcare Partners

DUBLIN, Ohio, March 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sarnova Holdings, Inc., parent company to four fast-growing business units: Bound Tree Medical, Cardio Partners, Emergency Medical Products and Tri-anim Health Services, announced today that the company has signed an agreement to be acquired by Patricia Industries, which is part of the Swedish industrial holding company, Investor AB. Patricia Industries will acquire the majority of Sarnova from Water Street Healthcare Partners and Sarnova founder Matthew D. Walter who will remain minority investors in the business.

Sarnova was formed in 2008 when Mr. Walter and Water Street merged two leading specialty distributors, Bound Tree Medical and Tri-anim Health Services. Over the next ten years, Sarnova completed eight acquisitions to expand its suite of medical products and services. Today, Sarnova is the nation's premier national distributor of health care products. 

"I am so proud of our team's success. This new partnership with Patricia Industries will further strengthen Sarnova's capacity to serve our customers, vendors and employees and fulfill our mission to save and improve patients' lives. Simply put, the Wallenberg family and the Investor Group have a values-oriented culture, much like Sarnova's culture, and we foresee a very bright future as a part of their family," says Sarnova CEO Jeff Prestel.

Chris Sweeney, partner, Water Street, added, "It has been an honor to work with Matt, Jeff and the entire Sarnova team over the past ten years. Together, we created and executed a strategic plan that grew the company into a market leader that is making a meaningful impact in the acute care and emergency medical services markets. Patricia consistently demonstrated its cultural alignment with us throughout our discussions and will be a strong home for Sarnova."

"In Sarnova, we see a great company that has both impressive historical performance and significant, durable long-term growth potential. Its asset-light business model makes the company highly cash generative," says Noah Walley, Co-Head of Patricia Industries. "We are looking forward to working with Sarnova's executive team to further invest in and develop the company."

Cain Brothers & Company, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets, served as sole financial advisor to Patricia Industries and facilitated its strategic acquisition of Sarnova on a proprietary basis.

About Sarnova
Sarnova is the leading national specialty distributor of healthcare products in the emergency medical services (EMS) and acute care markets. The company is comprised of four major business units:  Bound Tree Medical, Cardio Partners, Emergency Medical Products and Tri-anim Health Services. For more information, visit www.sarnova.com.  

About Patricia Industries
Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, makes control investments in best-in-class companies with strong market positions, brands and corporate cultures within industries positioned for secular growth. Our ambition is to be the sole owner of our companies, together with strong management teams and boards. We invest with an indefinite holding period, and focus on building durable value and capturing organic and non-organic growth opportunities.

About Investor AB
Investor, founded by the Wallenberg family a hundred years ago, is the leading owner of high quality Nordic-based international companies. Through board participation, our industrial experience, network and financial strength, we strive to make our companies best-in-class. Our holdings include, among others, ABB, Atlas Copco, Ericsson, Mölnlycke, and SEB.

About Water Street
Water Street is a strategic investor focused exclusively on health care. The firm has a strong record of building market-leading companies across key growth sectors in health care. It has worked with some of the world's leading health care companies on its investments including Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Smith & Nephew and Walgreen Co. Water Street's team is comprised of industry executives and investment professionals with decades of experience investing in and operating global health care businesses. The firm is headquartered in Chicago. For more information about Water Street, visit www.waterstreet.com.

SOURCE Water Street Healthcare Partners