Global private equity firm Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is said to have hired investment bank Natixis Partners to handle the sale of its 80% stake in French orthopedic implants leader Marle SA, which it acquired in 2009. The Marle family and the company’s management team kept a 20% stake in the business after Carlyle’s takeover.
Natixis Partners had been reportedly competing for Marle’s M&A mandate since November with two other investment banks, Messier Associés (Messier Partners) and Lazard, according to Capital Finance. Carlyle’s goal is reportedly to achieve a valuation of 300 M€.
Marle, based in Nogent, France, serves the worldwide orthopedic industry with specialized manufacturing services to produce hip, knee, shoulder, spine and extremities implants and instruments of the highest quality, within the shortest timeframe. The company offers a wide combination of technologies, which enables the production of the most diverse implant geometries, with strict tolerances and the highest quality and cost-efficiency achievable on the market. 
The Marle Group manufactured a million implants in 2015, with an annual turnover of 85 M€, and currently employs 530 people at five production facilities throughout France.
Marle has been devoting its entire manufacturing expertise to orthopedic implants for more than thirty years. It has acquired or build a wide span of technologies dedicated to the medical industry and now offers one of the most complete manufacturing services in the orthopedics market.