Ambitious wound-care specialist eyeing float

ADVANCED wound-care specialist Crawford Healthcare is being courted for a possible AIM-listing.

This follows the success of the £4.4bn float of one of its main competitors, ConvaTec.

Crawford’s chief executive Richard Anderson has admitted in the weekend business press that last month’s high-profile ConvaTec float was good news for the UK medical technology.

“ConvaTec’s IPO has made my phone a lot busier,” he told The Telegraph.

“I have had two fund managers ringing to ask what we are up to, saying they’ve seen ConvaTec and like them, but are very aware of Crawford. I’m hoping it’ll encourage more listings and will raise awareness among fund managers about what we have to offer in the advanced wound-care market.”

Anderson said the medical technology sector offers all the benefits of pharmaceuticals, without the high risks of biotech stock.

He said: “When I think about healthcare, one end of the spectrum is really risky biotech, then you have pharma which is fantastic with high margins and high barriers to entry, then you move down to the medical tech and device space which is much less risky, with lower R&D costs, but you still get the benefits of the margins and a long product cycle.”

As well as ConvaTech, Mölnlycke and Smith & Nephew are also major competitors of Knutsford, Cheshire-based Crawford.

“We are going head to head with them. For me it is a great company to compare us to if we were to go public,” said Anderson.

Anderson said he had “no firm plans to go public yet”,  and that any float would be on the AIM market, with the money raised used to drive growth and expansion, rather than debt.

Meanwhile, Crawford is also celebrating a 19% jump in half-year sales to £13m, driven by growth in the UK, Germany and the US. Revenues from the company’s North American subsidiary more than doubled.

“We are really pleased with the results,” Anderson said. “Crawford’s investments in the US and German markets are paying off. We are selling well ahead of expectations in both those markets.

“What is nice is we are competing with our rivals in these much larger markets with the same products that have been successful for us in the UK, and so are taking share from biggest players.”

Anderson also confirmed that Crawford had successfully submitted a new anti-infective dressing to US regulators that will compete with similar products from ConvaTec and Smith & Nephew.

Approval is expected in January, with launch in the first quarter of the year.