Halma Completes $60m Sale of NovaBone to Isto Biologics

Halma (LON: HLMA), the FTSE 100 group of life-saving technology companies, said in an RNS at 07:00 BST this morning that it has completed the sale of its NovaBone orthobiologics unit to US buyer Isto Biologics for $60m (£45m), on a cash and debt-free basis.

NovaBone Products LLC is a Florida-based designer and manufacturer of orthobiologic products, biological materials used to help bones and tissue heal or regenerate. Halma bought the business in January 2020 for $97m (£74m); selling it six years later for $60m, with no material gain or loss expected on disposal, amounts to a broadly breakeven exit in dollar terms.

Group chief executive Marc Ronchetti said: “We are pleased to have found a new home for NovaBone. Isto Biologics’ deep industry expertise and complementary portfolio make it a clear strategic fit for NovaBone, while enabling Halma to continue focusing investment in areas where we see the best opportunities for long-term growth and returns.”

For a group valued at roughly £13bn, the deal is financially immaterial. Its significance is more about confirming Halma’s stated capital-discipline approach – periodically exiting acquisitions that no longer fit, to free up resource for higher-growth areas such as photonics – than about moving the numbers.

HLMA shares traded at 3,616p by mid-morning, up 1.9% from Monday’s close of 3,548p, though still well below the 52-week high of 4,881.6p set before a near-15% one-day slump in June on softer FY2027 growth guidance. That guidance cut, not today’s disposal, remains the more relevant factor for anyone holding or watching the stock – the NovaBone sale is too small on its own to explain the day’s share price move.