The Thuasne Group, headquartered in Levallois-Perret, France, with US headquarters in Bakersfield, California, acquired Knit-Rite, Kansas City, Kansas, and its Therafirm division. The transaction closed on December 31, 2020. It marks Thuasne’s fourth and largest acquisition in the United States in ten years, including purchases of Townsend Design in 2011, and Quinn Medical in 2016.
Chris Vering will succeed Mark Smith, CP(r), Knit-Rite majority selling shareholder, as CEO of Knit-Rite/Therafirm. The acquisition gives Thuasne a new market for prosthetic socks and prosthetic textile interfaces, with a significant market leading position in the United States. The combined companies boast over 2,450 associates and more $300 million in revenue globally. The group is now present in 85 countries, in particular through its 15 subsidiaries in Europe, the United States, and Asia.
“This acquisition confirms the ambition for the Thuasne Group to have a global presence in both the phlebology and lymphology treatment categories, with compliance in each geographic specification (CE, FDA),” said Elizabeth Ducottet, Thuasne Group chairman and CEO. “Thuasne’s expertise in French and German standards, with confirmed proven efficacy of bandage and stocking treatment, complimented by Knit-Rite’s knowledge in the US standards, gives us the capacity to provide solutions for patients globally.”
“We salute the work accomplished by Mark Smith and the Knit-Rite management team over the last 15 years, which will engage the Thuasne Group in developing projects with the same spirit of excellence. As a family-owned French mid-sized company, we will rely on the local management teams and on their expertise to reinvest and develop the bases that were integrated by this acquisition,” said Delphine Hanton, Thuasne Group CEO.
“I am so proud that Knit-Rite and Therafirm have served patients, practitioners, and our profession with excellence for over 98 years, three generations, and in 50 countries,” said Smith. “It has been a tremendous blessing to be part of my whole life. In this light, I am extremely pleased we have the opportunity to pass the torch to Thuasne as a sixth-generation patient-driven company which likewise serves both the O&P and compression markets. It’s a match from heaven that will ensure our customers and over 170 associates an exciting future, through commitment to patient solutions and expanding presence for the clinical professions we both exist to serve.”
