Didactic, the Normandy-based specialist in single-use medical devices for infection prevention, has announced the acquisition of Pearmine Health, a British company producing hygiene and prevention products, and of Medadvance, its representation and distribution arm based in Germany.
Analysis by the experts at Auris Finance, M&A and financial engineering advisory firm.
Founded in 1967 and led since 2007 by Frédéric Viguié, Didactic is based in Saint-Jean-de-la-Neuville, in Seine-Maritime, where in 2023 it opened a site bringing together its head office and production activities. The company develops, manufactures, sterilises and distributes single-use medical devices under five brands, including Polysem Medical for gloves and hand protection, Inter.med for oral care swabs, Dr. Helewa for infection prevention consumables and Infineed for infusion and injection. It employs around 240 people and generates revenue of approximately €90 million.
The transaction extends a series of acquisitions outside France that began in 2022 with the takeover of Hygie in Canada, a specialist in body fluid collection products. In February 2025, Didactic acquired Arion, a Dutch company based in Heerlen, known for its pre-impregnated washcloths and devices that facilitate the use of compression stockings. In 2024, Arion recorded revenue of €21.5 million, up 19% year on year, with around a hundred employees, a commercial presence in twenty-five countries and a production facility in the Netherlands.
A product and its distribution channel acquired in a single transaction
With Pearmine Health and Medadvance, Didactic adds the United Kingdom to its footprint and strengthens its position in Germany, a market already targeted at the time of the Arion acquisition. The structure of the transaction deserves attention. The group is simultaneously acquiring the company that designs and manufactures the products and the one responsible for their representation and distribution in Europe.
This configuration shortens the time to market. Establishing a commercial presence in a new country requires recruiting staff, securing product listings with hospital buyers and building a network of distributors. Acquiring a business that already performs this function avoids that phase. In a cross-border acquisition, this operational continuity often carries more weight than the size of the target.
European consolidation supported by a stable shareholder base
The pace of acquisitions has accelerated since GENEO Capital Entrepreneur and UI Investissement took a minority stake alongside management at the end of 2024. The two funds succeeded FCDE, a shareholder since 2021. Bpifrance and MACSF had supported the acquisition of Arion, a transaction in which Didactic’s shareholders made a significant reinvestment.
This trajectory reflects a phase of consolidation in the European single-use medical devices market. A mid-sized group is building a continental position through successive acquisitions in different countries, while retaining a management team that has been in place for nearly twenty years and a minority financial shareholder base. It is precisely this continuity that makes it possible to carry out a succession of integrations involving different teams, regulatory frameworks and commercial practices.
For leaders of SMEs and mid-sized companies in the sector, the transaction is a reminder that the most active acquirers are not necessarily French. A company with an established commercial presence, hospital listings or regulatory compliance in its market offers a foreign group an access route that is difficult to replicate. Extending a sale process beyond national borders significantly broadens the range of potential counterparties and, with it, the conditions for valuation.
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