SC&H Capital Facilitates Deal to Advance Corneal Transplants Globally, Selling Baltimore-Based KeraLink International

Baltimore - February 28, 2019

Sale of Nonprofit Will Advance Eye Care Around the World

To promote eye care around the world, SC&H Capital, a leading investment bank and advisory firm focused on middle-market and growth companies, recently facilitated the sale of Baltimore-based nonprofit KeraLink International. SC&H Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor to KeraLink.

For more than 50 years, KeraLink has served surgeons and their patients in need of sight-saving cornea transplant procedures by recovering and providing the highest quality donor tissue. To create greater eye banking efficiencies domestically and to provide more opportunities to restore sight to more people internationally, KeraLink has transferred its domestic eye banking operations to another industry leader, CorneaGen. CorneaGen, which is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is now the nation’s largest eye bank and will be able to further commit to transforming how corneal surgeons treat and care for the cornea.

Through the acquisition, CorneaGen will gain efficiencies of scale in reaching more of the U.S. market, including the ability to serve an additional eight percent of domestic corneal surgeons and expand its offering of surgical products, the company stated in a news release.

KeraLink’s name stemmed from “kera,” short for kerato (evoking the cornea), and “link” for all of the links that must come together — surgeons, researchers, benefactors, donors and their families, and recipients — to achieve the goal of reversing corneal blindness through transplantation.

“This deal will enable a tremendous expansion of KeraLink’s efforts around the world to reverse corneal blindness.  We are so proud and fortunate to have worked with these devoted professionals to further enhance patient health,” said Christopher Helmrath, managing director, SC&H Capital.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, as the two parties are private organizations.

While eye banks in the United States collectively are meeting the need for corneal tissue domestically, outside of this country the unmet demand is significant. More than 10 million patients are awaiting transplants, and in the developing world, many of them are children and young adults.

“This important sale will help us to maintain and build upon our record of successfully treating patients. KeraLink’s history in this field is unrivaled, and this deal will provide the resources to do even more to restore sight to the blind,” said Douglas Furlong, KeraLink’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “And, of course, we’re grateful to SC&H Capital for helping us and, way more importantly, helping people around the world.”

“This transaction will enable the newly formed entity to build a business that will focus on reversing corneal blindness in the places where the unmet need is the greatest, ultimately delivering innovative solutions that are more accessible and more affordable,” Furlong said, adding: “Being able to see should not depend on where you were born.”

About SC&H Capital

SC&H Capital, an affiliate of SC&H Group, is an investment banking and advisory firm providing merger and acquisition (M&A), employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), capital raising, and business valuation solutions to middle market and growth companies nationwide. SC&H Capital delivers investment banking and advisory services across numerous industries including technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and government contracting to help owners achieve their exit planning goals and liquidity objectives. To learn more visit www.schcapital.com.

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