A medical company headquartered in Caerphilly town has been bought out by French healthcare company ArchiMed.
Direct Healthcare Group (DHG), which is based on Western Industrial Estate, produces medical equipment.
The company was sold to the French firm by NorthEdge Capital, which led a management buy-out of DHG in 2016.
Since 2016, the number of employees at the firm increased from 52 to 185 across the UK.
Founded in 2009, the company works with care providers in more than 20 countries across the world.
Despite the buy-out, DHG will remain under the existing management team, but will increase its focus on expanding its presence in Europe.
The investment in the company, totalling more than £125m, will see its product portfolio increase, as well as an extra 50 to 100 people employed in Caerphilly over the next two years.
Graham Ewart, CEO at DHG, said: “Ensuring that patients maintain active and independent lives is at the heart of our business model, and having established ourselves as a market leader in the UK, Europe represents an enormous opportunity to expand our horizons and impact more lives. ArchiMed will be able to provide a gateway to this market, and we look forward to replicating our success in recent years and developing a strong partnership with the team in the coming months.”
In the last 20 years, ArchiMed has invested in more than 40 healthcare companies, with a combined value of more than £4billion.
ArchiMed’s Florian Demleitner said: “A major reason why DHG and its management team offer an ideal platform for bolt-on deals is the admired brand they’ve built in a very scalable and underserviced sector of the healthcare industry. Their reputation for developing technologically innovative products and running their business smartly is a magnet for partners looking to accelerate their own growth.”