Medical tubing manufacturer Putnam Plastics Corp. has been bought by Memry Corp., a manufacturer of metal components for medical devices using high-tech alloys that can change shape in the body.
The July 12 deal gives Memry its first plastic platform, and the company said it is looking for other polymer-based technologies.
Putnam, in Dayville, Conn., and Memry, in Bethel, Conn., both make components for stents, catheters, guide wires and other complex devices used in the body.
Memry President and Chief Executive Officer James Binch declined to disclose terms of the cash and stock transaction, but said publicly traded Memry will announce them when the deal is completed, within 120 days.
Putnam President Jim Dandeneau, who founded the company in 1984, will remain as head of Putnam, which will operate as a division within Memry, Binch said. Putnam makes plastic tubing and coats metal components.
Dandeneau did not respond to requests for an interview.
Binch said two factors drove the acquisition: New medical devices increasingly combine metal and plastic, and consolidation among medical-device makers means suppliers like Memry have to broaden their capabilities.
``The next-generation devices are frequently a marriage of material technologies,'' he said. ``Where a component is going to be deployed using a catheter, we should stay on the high end of the technology curve.''
Memry uses nickel titanium alloys to make things like stents that expand in the body. It also makes tubing that can change shape when exposed to cold solutions, allowing it to curve 140 degrees when it's in the body and get in a better position to grab a kidney stone, for example, Binch said.
Binch said Memry may purchase other polymer technologies, including some related to coatings that are becoming more common in devices.
Memry has about $34 million in annual sales, with 220 employees in Connecticut and California. Privately held Putnam, which is much smaller, said in 2000 that it expanded its plant to 35,000 square feet.
