GTCR, a private equity firm, has entered into a partnership with Robert “Chip” Hance to form Regatta Medical Holdings LLC. The new company, headquartered in Chicago, Ill., will focus on acquiring companies and assets in either the products or services areas of the medical device industry as part of a strategy to build a market-leading company in the space. GTCR, the firm that pioneered The Leaders Strategy—finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth—will invest in Regatta Medical from GTCR Fund XI, a private equity fund with $3.85 billion of equity capital commitments, alongside a substantial investment from Hance.



Hance is a 30-year veteran of the medical device industry. Prior to partnering with GTCR, he most recently served as CEO of Creganna Medical, a supplier of contract manufacturing services for medical devices. He became CEO of Creganna Medical in 2013 and significantly grew the business via acquisition and organic growth before completing a successful sale of the company in 2016 to TE Connectivity for approximately $895 million. Prior to leading Creganna Medical, Hance spent more than 20 years in senior leadership roles at Abbott Laboratories, including in its medical devices, diagnostics, and diabetes segments. He most recently was president of Abbott’s Vascular division, building it into a global leader in interventional cardiology with more than $3 billion in revenues.



“I am thrilled to partner with GTCR to build Regatta Medical into a market-leading company in the medical device space,” said Hance. “GTCR has deep domain expertise in healthcare, a great track record of creatively building platforms in this space, and a long history of backing experienced CEOs. With our partnership, Regatta is well-positioned to create a compelling platform in either the product or service areas of the medical device value chain.”


 
Joining Hance at Regatta will be Mark Weishaar, who most recently served as vice president of acquisitions at Abbott Laboratories, managing M&A for the device and diagnostic businesses. Weishaar, who has more than 30 years of experience across various business functions in the medical device and diagnostics industries, worked with Hance to help build Abbott’s Vascular division.



“We are excited to partner with Chip to build a leading company in the medical device industry,” said GTCR Managing Director Dean Mihas. “Chip has an exceptional track record in the medical device space, with experience in both products & services and a history of driving organic & M&A growth. Chip’s background, industry expertise and strategic vision make him an ideal partner as GTCR commits to build another platform in this attractive industry.  In conjunction with Mark’s experience and their collective history of successfully building a large business, we see an exceptional opportunity to create value.”


 
“GTCR’s formation of Regatta Medical with Chip is another excellent example of The Leaders Strategy and builds on our history of investments in medical devices and the broader healthcare industry,” added Sean Cunningham, managing director at GTCR. “We are excited to create this medical device platform behind Chip and are actively looking for companies and assets in the sector, including stand-alone businesses and corporate carve-outs.” 
 
Founded in 1980, GTCR is a private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the financial services and technology, healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, and growth business services industries. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $12 billion in over 200 companies.