Water Street Healthcare Partners Completes Sale of Key Surgical

Health Care Firm Divests Fast-Growing Medical Products Company to STERIS

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Nov 18, 2020, 16:35 ET

CHICAGO, Nov. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Water Street Healthcare Partners, a strategic investor focused exclusively on the health care industry, announced today that it has completed the sale of Key Surgical to STERIS. During its nearly four-year partnership with Key Surgical, Water Street collaborated with the leadership team to grow the Minneapolis-based company into one of the world's premier providers of consumable medical products that support the entire surgical cycle.

Chris Sweeney, partner, Water Street, spearheaded the firm's successful partnership with Key Surgical.

Water Street invested in Key Surgical in 2017 and simultaneously acquired European provider, Interlock Medizintechnik GmbH. The combination transformed Key Surgical into a global leader in consumable sterile processing, operating room, and endoscopy products. Working together, Water Street and Key Surgical invested their industry expertise and network of resources to:

facilitate four additional strategic acquisitions that broadened Key Surgical's product
portfolio and extended its global network;
invest in organic initiatives that bolstered Key Surgical's direct sales, clinical education, marketing and product management functions, and expanded its leading-edge global commercial model;
grow Key Surgical's portfolio to more than 8,000 products and supplies with a steady cadence of new product introductions;
more than quadruple the company's employee base and nearly triple its customers to 13,000+ hospitals & surgical centers around the world, and;
grow Key Surgical's revenue more than 500 percent to approximately $170 million through a combination of strategic acquisitions and organic investments.

"It has been very rewarding to work with Water Street to achieve our goal of building Key Surgical into a global leader," said Scot Milchman, CEO, Key Surgical. "As we look to the future, STERIS is an ideal strategic fit. Our companies serve many of the same customers, and share strong values and beliefs about the important role our employees play in providing our customers with superior products and service."

"We're looking forward to bringing our unique commercial model and focus on consumable products to STERIS and leveraging our combined companies' strengths to accelerate growth, support the health care industry and advance patient safety," said Brian O'Connell, president and COO, Key Surgical.

Chris Sweeney, partner, Water Street, added, "It has been an honor to work with Brian, Scot and the team to meaningfully expand Key Surgical's capabilities, products and global footprint and, ultimately, create significant long-term value in the company. Water Street also has built a strong relationship with STERIS leadership over the years, and our confidence in one another is what made this sale possible. We're very pleased that our work has resulted in an excellent long-term home for Key Surgical."

To learn more about Key Surgical and how it's contributing to patient safety in hospitals and surgical centers, visit: https://www.keysurgical.com/about.

About Key Surgical
Key Surgical was founded in 1988 with the premise of providing consumable products that are needed and wanted by sterile processing and operating room customers. The company offers a broad suite of thousands of products and supplies that contribute to patient safety at more than 13,000 health care facilities in 80 countries. Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minn., Key Surgical has delivered year-over-year revenue growth every year since its inception. For more information on Key Surgical, visit keysurgical.com.

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 companies on its investments including Humana, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic 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 waterstreet.com.

SOURCE Water Street Healthcare Partners