Orthopedic Company Small Bone Innovations Raises $144 Million

Small Bone Innovations, Inc., an orthopedics company focused exclusively on technologies and treatments for the small bones & joints, announced that it has sold a total of $108 million of Series D Preferred Stock in a series of private equity financings. The most recent of these financings closed in April 2009. The Series D financing is believed to be one of the largest ever private equity capital investments in an orthopedics company.

The Series D funding included substantial investments from Goldman, Sachs & Co., Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the investment firm of the Government of Malaysia, Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), an integrated Malaysian-based venture capital company, The Family Office of Bahrain, and certain other substantial investors.

The Series D financing also included investments from existing investors Trevi Health Ventures, NGN Capital, 3i Group, and TGap Ventures.

Anthony G. Viscogliosi, SBi's Chairman & CEO, said: "In view of the extremely difficult conditions in the global capital markets during the past 18 months, the scope and quality of this investment round represent both a vote of confidence in our business model and a recognition of the small bone & joint market as the fastest growing sector in the orthopedics market. The size of the investment in SBi is significant in view of the 51 percent decline this year in medical device investing by venture capital firms - according to VentureSource (a DowJones database)."

In addition to the Series D financing round, SBi completed in 2008 its Series C Preferred Stock financing, raising a total of $36 million. This financing was led by Viscogliosi Bros., LLC and included new investor Trevi Health Ventures, and follow-on investments by NGN Capital, 3i, TGap Ventures and Axiom Venture Partners.

The proceeds from the Series C and Series D financings were used in part to complete the acquisition of the Scandinavian Total Ankle Replacement (S.T.A.R.(R)) system from Waldemar Link GmbH & Co. KG of Hamburg, Germany, to fund operations, to support the launch of the S.T.A.R. Ankle in the U.S. and to retire a $20 million credit facility, arranged in 2007 by Fortress Investment Group.