Lumenis

The story of Lumenis begins in the early 1990s with Dr. Shimon Eckhouse, who founded the company as ESC Medical Systems in Israel, focusing on intense pulsed light therapies. The company was an early pioneer in using light-based technology for aesthetic and medical treatments. It went public on the Nasdaq in 1996, and its valuation quickly grew. However, a subsequent acquisition of Laser Industries, a surgical laser company, proved challenging, leading to a period of struggle. The company, renamed Lumenis in 2001 , faced significant hurdles, including being delisted from the Nasdaq in 2006 amidst debt and accounting issues. A turning point came in 2012 with the appointment of Tzipi Ozer-Armon as CEO. Under her leadership, the company refocused and restructured. This new direction led to a successful re-listing on the Nasdaq in 2014. The next chapter saw a series of major acquisitions. In 2015, private equity fund XIO Group acquired Lumenis for approximately $520 million. This was followed in 2019 by another sale to Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) for over $1 billion. A significant strategic move occurred in 2021 when BPEA sold Lumenis' surgical division to Boston Scientific for $1.07 billion, while retaining the aesthetics and vision businesses. Today, Lumenis operates as a portfolio company of BPEA, continuing to develop and commercialize energy-based technologies for the global aesthetic and vision markets.