Lubrizol Life Science has agreed to sell its silicone breast implant manufacturing operation in Franklin, Wis., to Santa Barbara, Calif.-based medical aesthetics company Sientra Inc.
Lubrizol Life Science is part of Wickliffe-based specialty chemical company Lubrizol Corp.
Sientra will pay $20 million in cash for the breast implant business, a news release stated. The release noted that $14 million of that would be payable at closing, with one $3 million cash payment in 2021 and another $3 million cash payment in 2023. Additionally, if Sientra meets certain share-price milestones within a 48-month period, the company would also issue up to 607,442 shares of stock to Lubrizol.
This deal builds off an existing relationship between Sientra and Lubrizol Life Science that began in 2016 as the companies co-developed the validated manufacturing processes and specifications needed for FDA approval, the release stated.
“We want to thank Lubrizol Life Science for their strong relationship these past four years and for their steady efforts in building a world-class breast implant operation that could be transferred over to us so seamlessly,” Sientra chairman and CEO Jeff Nugent said in the release. “We are confident in the significant manufacturing expertise within the Sientra organization and our ability to successfully integrate the breast implant operation.”
Uwe Winzen, general manager of Lubrizol Life Science, in the release noted that the companies have had a “long-standing relationship in design, development and scale-up of several cosmetic implant products.” This sale will allow Lubrizol’s health business to focus on the medical device industry, he added.
The majority of employees at the Franklin plant will be employed by Sientra, the release stated. The companies have also agreed to a transition services agreement and to a long-term lease agreement in Lubrizol’s Franklin facility, which will include existing and expansion space. In addition, the companies plan to continue to collaborate, and Lubrizol will continue to make tissue expanders for Sientra.
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