ESCONDIDO, CA — TearLab Corp. announced that it will be acquired by Accelmed Partners II. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020.
In connection with the acquisition, AP-II has agreed to invest $25 million in TearLab. TearLab offers the TearLab Osmolarity Test for revealing tear film osmolarity, a hallmark sign of dry eye disease.
Proceeds from the investment will be used to pay down a portion of TearLab’s existing debt and fund growth opportunities.
The investment, divided into two tranches, will occur in conjunction with the company delisting from the “over the counter” OTCQB market. TearLab (OTCQB: TEAR) will then be a private company with AP-II as the controlling shareholder.
TearLab’s senior secured lender, CR Group, has agreed to restructure the terms of the company’s outstanding senior secured indebtedness.
“We are very excited to begin a new era for the company with the support from Accelmed Partners and our lender CRG,” said Seph Jensen, TearLab’s CEO. “With the capital provided through this transaction, we are now able to both pursue continued development of our next generation Discovery platform as well as seek out targeted acquisition opportunities.
“The dry eye market has tremendous innovations at varying stages of development and commercialization for both treatments and diagnostics that aim to deliver meaningful benefits to physicians and patients. We look forward to creating a stronger company that is better positioned to help shape the landscape of dry eye care for the ophthalmic and optometric communities.”
Dr. Uri Geiger, founder and managing partner of Accelmed Partners, said, “Our team has been keenly following TearLab as the company has become part of the clinical guidelines associated with evaluating ocular surface disease. We are excited to be working with Seph and the executive team to accelerate the growth of TearLab’s sizable base of systems. The investment is highly representative of the transactions we seek to undertake and is our first deal in our new fund, AP-II.”
As part of the transaction, Geiger will become chairman of the board and Accelmed Partners’ general partner, Lior Shav, who led the transaction, will join the company’s board of directors. Seph Jensen, TearLab’s CEO, will remain a board member.