MedSource Technologies Inc. of Plymouth, Minn., added another medical component supplier on Jan. 11. MedSource acquired the Danbury, Conn., operations of Tenax Corp. from London-based Bespak plc. Tenax did not fit Bespak's drug-delivery-technologies supply chain in the United States. Terms were not disclosed.
The deal excluded a pharmaceutical-related business in Apex, N.C., that remains with Bespak. Bespak acquired Tenax in 1992.
Tenax employs 140 and occupies 90,000 square feet, Tenax President Peter Kershaw said in a telephone interview.
The business unit operates insert and injection molding equipment with clamping forces of 25-450 tons. Tenax also extrudes material, assembles devices, provides engineering services, and has a Class 100,000 clean room.
Tenax's "high production plastic injection molding and assembly ... will be a great addition," Rich Effress, MedSource chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. Effress became CEO in January, succeeding John Hertig.
The acquisition is MedSource's first since its April 1 formation. MedSource consolidated operations of seven medical component suppliers in Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Colorado and New Hampshire. Original equipment manufacturers of medical devices buy from fewer suppliers, prompting the firms to link forces.
MedSource employs more than 800, including those at Tenax, said Steve Mogensen, MedSource director of marketing and communications.
In April, MedSource projected 1999 sales of more than $100 million.
