China Kanghui Holdings, a leading domestic developer, manufacturer and marketer of orthopedic implants in China, announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Beijing Wei Rui Li Medical Device, a provider of approved hip and knee systems in China. The Company expects to acquire 60 percent of Wei Rui Li. Pursuant to the share purchase agreement, the Company has the option to acquire additional equity interest in Wei Rui Li at a pre-determined price subject to the achievement of certain milestones. The transaction is expected to close by March 31, 2011, subject to all conditions set out in the share purchase agreement being satisfied.
Libo Yang, Chief Executive Officer of Kanghui commented, “The announcement is a key component of our plan to launch a full line of reconstruction products in China and in international markets over the next three years. With this acquisition, we expect to launch our first joint implant product into the Chinese market by early 2012, which offers Kanghui another driver for future growth.”
“By combining our manufacturing, sales and distribution infrastructure with Wei Rui Li’s proven product development capability, we believe that Kanghui and Wei Rui Li can make significant inroads in the reconstruction market in China. We expect to offer sophisticated instrumentation, affordable pricing and products specifically tailored to Asian anatomy, which we believe constitute very competitive offerings in this sector,” said Yang.
Chen Yu, Chief Business Officer, said, “Together with our recently established exclusive partnership with Consensus Orthopedics, we are putting the pieces in place to address this compelling and underserved market. By offering a full range of joint reconstruction products, including those that are US FDA approved, we intend to become a leader in this critical segment of the orthopedic market both in China and our international markets. Ultimately, this bolsters our ability to become the premier domestic orthopedic provider in China.”