KKR signed a definitive agreement to acquire Integer Holdings for $5.7 billion in enterprise value, taking the New York Stock Exchange–listed medical device manufacturer private in an all-cash transaction. Integer shareholders receive $141.50 per share, a 49% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price preceding deal rumors. The transaction values Integer at 14.2× forward EBITDA, in line with recent MedTech takeouts but above the 11.8× median for publicly traded comparables in the cardiac and neuromodulation subsector.
Integer manufactures batteries, electrodes, and component subsystems for implantable cardiac devices and neuromodulation systems—the infrastructure layer beneath brand-name pacemakers and spinal cord stimulators. The company supplies Medtronic, Abbott, Boston Scientific, and smaller device OEMs under long-term contracts with 78% revenue visibility over the next three years. Integer reported $1.51 billion in trailing revenue and $402 million in adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended September 2024, operating at 26.6% margins. KKR is acquiring predictable cash generation tied to an aging demographic installing more implantable devices per capita each year, insulated from reimbursement volatility because Integer sits upstream of the hospital purchasing cycle.
The deal removes Integer from quarterly earnings pressure at a time when its two largest customers are renegotiating supply agreements and the company is mid-transition on a $120 million manufacturing footprint consolidation in Costa Rica and Malaysia. Public equity investors penalized the stock through 2024 for execution risk during the facility moves; private equity can absorb the 18-month integration timeline without mark-to-market noise. KKR also inherits Integer's 12.4% market share in the rechargeable battery segment for neurostimulation, where Boston Scientific and Medtronic are expanding spinal cord stimulation approvals for chronic pain—a category expected to grow at 9.1% CAGR through 2029 according to third-party device forecasts. The firm is paying for a toll bridge on a widening road.
Integer's board unanimously approved the transaction. Financing is committed debt from KKR's balance sheet and its credit partners; no financing contingency exists. Regulatory clearance requires Hart-Scott-Rodino approval and a handful of non-U.S. antitrust filings in jurisdictions where Integer operates manufacturing. KKR expects to close in Q3 2025. Goldman Sachs advised Integer; Barclays and Morgan Stanley advised KKR. If a superior offer surfaces during the go-shop period ending 35 days from signing, Integer pays KKR a $68 million break fee—roughly 1.2% of equity value, a narrow moat.
Allocators should track two follow-on events. First, whether KKR moves Integer's neurostimulation component line into closer partnership with Boston Scientific or Medtronic under a joint development agreement, collapsing the customer-supplier distance in exchange for volume commitments. Second, whether the firm seeks a tuck-in acquisition of battery technology IP from smaller European component makers within twelve months of close, consolidating the rechargeable power subsector before strategic buyers notice the margin durability. The Integer deal is KKR's third MedTech platform in 24 months, following minority stakes in a dental implant distributor and a surgical robotics components supplier.
Integer's stock closed at $140.83 on Friday, 52 basis points below the offer price. The spread reflects minimal deal risk and a market that prices this transaction as certain.