NASS just packed up in San Antonio, and the press releases are still landing. Most of it is noise. But read this week's news as a business story instead of a product story, and a pattern shows up. Private equity is buying the factories, small innovators are hunting for someone to sell their product, real-world evidence is becoming the price of admission, and the money is moving toward software and pain control.
Six stories from the past week tell you where spine is headed.
1/ The Factory Floor Is the New Battleground
The most important deal of the week didn't happen at a booth. On October 15, Italian private equity fund Armònia SGR, through its Armònia Italy Fund II, bought 100% of HPF, an Italian contract manufacturer that forges and machines hip, knee and spine implants and instruments for device companies. HPF did just under €30 million in revenue last year. The tell is in the financing: the deal comes with credit lines for more acquisitions.
That's a roll-up. PE has figured out what OEMs would rather not say out loud. The big brands outsourced their manufacturing, and whoever owns that capacity owns leverage. Consolidate enough forging and machining shops and you set the pric...
