TODAY'S HEADLINES:
- Israel's Alma Lasers files for $86M IPO (Edgar)
- Allscripts acquires hospital-management software co. ECIN for $90M (release)
- AgaMatrix, glucose-sensor maker, raises $24M (PE Hub)
Israel's Alma Lasers files for $86M IPO -- Alma Lasers, an Israeli maker of lasers for cosmetic procedures, filed to raise $86.3 million in an initial offering. The company, based in Caesarea, calls its products "energy-based aesthetic treatment systems," and sells them to dermatologists for hair removal and wrinkle treatment.
Alma markets its products in 64 countries, including the U.S., and says it has sold more than 3,300 systems since 1999. In a departure for this sort of company, Alma turned a profit in 2004 and 2005, and was also profitable in the first nine months of 2007, pulling in net income of $15.3 million on revenues of $62 million in that period.
Alma's established business may make it an easier sell for investors than similar companies that have tried to go public recently. Reliant Technologies, for instance, a Mountain View, Calif., laser company we covered here, here and here, yanked its IPO filing in November.
AgaMatrix, glucose-sensor maker, raises $24M -- AgaMatrix, a Salem, N.H., maker of blood-glucose sensor devices, raised $23.7 million in a third funding round, PE Hub reports, citing a regulatory filing. Investors include Ferrer Freeman & Co., Notable International and Collaborative Seed & Growth Partners.
AgaMatrix makes and sells a line of blood-sugar testing devices for diabetics under the WaveSense brand. The main selling point for these particular testers appears to be their data-management capabilities, which allow diabetics to download and analyze their blood-sugar readings over a period of time. AgaMatrix's "Zero-Click" software, for instance, automatically identifies a glucose meter once it's plugged in, downloads data into a user profile and instantly displays charts that help diabetics spot trends in their blood-sugar levels.
AgaMatrix is also developing a new wireless version of its meters it calls the Jazz Codeless, which apparently does away with the need for a cable. That device hasn't yet received marketing approval from the FDA, however. Other startups, however, have greater ambitions -- see, for instance, our coverage of Pelikan Technologies, which aims to reduce the pain associated with blood drawing for testing via a computer-controlled lance, here.