Twin Cities-based H.B. Fuller expands its medical adhesives business with two acquisitions

Vadnais Heights-based H.B. Fuller on Monday announced two small acquisitions and a divestiture as it reshapes its portfolio of adhesive technologies towards higher-growth, higher-margin solutions.

Fuller announced deals for GEM S.r.l. and Medifill Ltd., small medical adhesive companies based in Europe that will join its Health, Hygiene and Consumables segment. The deals are expected to close in February for a combined purchase price of about $189 million.

Medifill is based in Dublin, Ireland, and produces medical-grade adhesives used in wound closures. GEM is an Italian company that makes medical adhesives and application devices used in dozens of surgical indications.

Adhesives can be used in place of sutures, staples and other agents that stop blood loss and can produce better results while reducing operating times.

“With the purchase of GEM, Medifill, and our previous acquisitions in this space, H.B. Fuller has now built a Medical Adhesive Technologies (MAT) business founded on our expertise in cyanoacrylate chemistry, and we have extended our penetration into a global footprint,” Celeste Mastin, president and chief executive of H.B. Fuller, said in a news release.

Medifill and GEM will add to Fuller’s other MAT businesses acquired recently, including Cyberbond, Tissue Seal, and Adhezion Biomedical. GEM will serve as a European headquarters for H.B. Fuller’s MAT business.

H.B. Fuller also announced Monday that it sold a flooring adhesives business as part of a broader move to reshape some existing business in a new global business unit named Building Adhesives Solutions (BAS).

The BAS business will consist of some solutions in its Construction Adhesives and Engineering Adhesives segments. Financial reporting of the new business will be effective at the start of H.B. Fuller’s fiscal 2025, which started Dec. 1.