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UK medical robotics group CMR Surgical has put itself up for sale, seeking a valuation of as much as $4bn as the company plots its launch in the US, the biggest surgery market globally.
Cambridge-based CMR, a success story in the UK life sciences sector, had hired advisers in recent weeks to begin work on a sale process, which was likely to elicit interest from large strategic buyers, three people familiar with the matter said.
Founded in 2014, CMR competes with large US rivals such as Intuitive Surgical for a slice of the surgical robotics market, which is expected to generate $12.8bn in global sales this year, according to an analysis by management consultants Oliver Wyman.
CMR launched its first product, a small portable robot that can be moved between operating rooms called Versius, in 2019. The company said this year that Versius had been used in more than 30,000 surgical cases in more than 30 countries.
Earlier this year, CMR raised $200mn at a valuation of $3bn from existing backers including SoftBank, Ally Bridge Group and Tencent to help fund the rollout of Versius in the US. The product gained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration last October for use in gallbladder removal surgery. The venture capital arm of GE HealthCare is also one of its investors.
There was no guarantee that CMR Surgical would be sold, as the investors might instead hold on to the company, the people cautioned. CMR declined to comment.
The potential sale comes as the UK government is looking for ways to encourage investment in the life science sector, where start-ups are often sold to foreign buyers rather than growing into large standalone UK companies.
Many hospitals outside the US have been slow in choosing to use surgical robots because of the costs of the machines, but they have gained traction for use in certain gynaecological and urological surgery procedures.
