M&A and Partnerships: How Strategics Approach Asia | LSI Asia '25

Ryan Roberts  0:05  
All right. Well, welcome and thank you to our panel. Objective here is to think about how strategics. Take a look at this market, their approach, things, deal structure, and if we have time, at the end, a little bit of maybe hot takes and advice for budding innovators in the region, and in thinking about globalization and strategic partnerships. So what I'd love to do is just kick off, maybe a key we'll start with you, and go down just a brief overview of the fund, the targets that you're looking for, and maybe your general thoughts about the approach in the region. Okay,

Aki Maeda  0:38  
for sure. So first of all, thank you for inviting inviting me to the panel. My name is Aki Maeda from teijing. Teeing is the company providing devices for home care, basically to Japan, also. We providing devices to South Korea and to China and the two European countries, we are primarily looking at the companies developing respiratory device and sleep appropriate device, again, for the home care. So thank you so much, Felicia.

Felicia Chung  1:16  
So hi, I'm Felicia. I'm from the Olympus global business development team at Olympus. We are a $6 billion US, dollar revenue company that delivers solutions across Gi, urology, respiratory, ENT and surgical devices.

Dave Allen  1:37  
Hi, I'm Dave Allen. I lead business development and corporate development for our medical surgical portfolio here at Medtronic, large multinational, strategic and med tech.

Catherine Jennings  1:50  
Hi, I'm Cat Jennings. I'm the Global president of the peripheral vascular business at Boston Scientific, and I'm thrilled to be here along with this great panel.

Ryan Roberts  1:58  
And ke what, what what are your shots on goal here? What are you targeting when you take a look at at the opportunities in the regions?

Catherine Jennings  2:06  
You know, I think what we really focus on is, how do we enter high growth adjacencies that are strategic fits for Boston Scientific, and whether that's making investments, making acquisitions, driving partnerships, all of that's in play.

Ryan Roberts  2:22  
Gotcha. And how does or does, and if so, how do you look differently at the different markets? You know, when we travel around the world and go to different places, different continents, it's never a market. It's never homogeneous. It's different. There's differences. How do you look differently at India versus Japan, versus the ASEAN countries, is there a different approach in the way you look at potential strategic acquisitions? You know, I think

Catherine Jennings  2:46  
the fundamentals that we're looking for are always the same, right? We're looking for differentiated technology. We're looking for devices that meet an unmet patient need in a meaningful way. But when you look at these different markets. You know, the customers that they serve and the economies in which they operate are really different. And so the question is, oftentimes, with these companies that are locally based, how transferable is that business model to the rest of the world?

Ryan Roberts  3:17  
Yeah, Felicia and David, same questions your way. Do you think differently about the markets within the market in in the pan Asian region?

Felicia Chung  3:26  
So I think we approach acquisitions, investments, or generally in organic growth very similarly across the world. First for us is, where is that strategic fit for the company? We don't just focus on the core, which is gi urology, respiratory, but we also look at very close adjacencies, but most importantly, how can we Olympus bring value to the company that we are acquiring and ultimately elevate that standard of care for the patients that we are serving? So we look at various forms of partnerships, whether it's early stage investments through the corporate venture fund that we have, or whether it's structured M and A through outright acquisitions. We also do other forms of partnerships, such as distribution vanilla flavor type arrangements, all the way through licensing as well. And of course, we have our very strong R D arm, where we believe that we can potentially add value to core development, bringing that technology that's not yet matured into a successful, matured phase. Eventually, Olympus could use our commercial channels to distribute those products, Yeah,

Ryan Roberts  4:42  
same, same question. Back to you,

Dave Allen  4:44  
yeah, it's you have three strategics on the stage. So we view the world very, very similar here. But for you know, companies in this space, what I just encourage them is, you know, have a global mindset and be globally minded. But you know, you can be regionally rooted in where you develop the technology, who? You partner with, how you recruit and develop talent, where you manufacture and develop the product. But you know, very, very similar comments here is, you know, patients across the world, you know, need our technologies, and I expect it comes from this region or any other region. It's broadly applicable in my experience,

Ryan Roberts  5:18  
okay, you you've got a specific focus in home care, right? So when you think about partnering with innovators, how would you describe the different, the nuances between the markets, not only within this region, but when you're you're looking for strategic plays for your company, right?

Aki Maeda  5:37  
They actually regardless of the geography. So we are applying the same kind of, okay, say, the same synergy, the same priority. That means we are always prioritizing the business synergy, as you said. So we are always looking at a similar type of the device, like a home care device in the each region. And depending on the structure, we basically looking at the companies in the retail stage to acquire the acquired, you know, the product into Japanese market.

Ryan Roberts  6:21  
Kat, you just landed minutes ago, it seems like so you weren't here for the opening ceremony, so you missed the black ties and the formal gowns. But in that session, we heard a bit about the robust innovation economy in Singapore, in particular, this three way partnership between government and academics and innovators, and how that's kind of spurring a renaissance of innovation here, much like we've seen in other parts of the world in past decades. So I'm curious, for all of our strategics and investors, does do public private or public private academic partnerships as a foundation of a company, or other ways of origin. Does it matter, when you're looking does it matter where they've come from, or how they've come up and been invested in prior in your assessment of the final outcome, whether they're a fit for you or not?

Catherine Jennings  7:15  
You know, I think, from our standpoint, as long as ownership structure, IP, things like that are clearly laid out, and we understand what it is that we're acquiring. It's it's not a barrier. And oftentimes, you know, these can be great sources of non dilutive funding for a lot of these companies. And so I think it's terrific, you know, we see that. I mean, frankly, you see parts of it in the US, parts of it in Israel, parts of it here, as you mentioned, and I think it's a wonderful way in which to help really build that ecosystem for Medtech to flourish,

Ryan Roberts  7:49  
and any other different perspectives on that one.

Felicia Chung  7:53  
Well, non Singapore, and so coming from Singapore, I can speak a little bit on the partnership that we have had with enterprise Singapore every year, they run one of the largest regional innovation competitions called the slingshot and Olympus had the opportunity to partner with them last year, where we actually highlighted the top four of Our own Olympus innovation program into the slingshot competition, and having participated and partnered with enterprise Singapore for the first time when I attended the conference, it was so amazing to see not just Singapore companies, but Singapore as a hub, attracting startups from all over the world, just coming into Singapore, participate in a conference. It was a great networking session. It was a great event for startups to showcase that technology, regardless of where it came from. And I think there's just something great that the government in Singapore has brought to Singapore and the region.

Ryan Roberts  8:55  
But from your perspective, does it matter where companies come from? Is it love non dilutive equity, right? Or, sorry, yeah, non dilutive financing, that's probably a good thing. Any other perspectives on where they've come from and attractiveness to your portfolio.

Felicia Chung  9:09  
So again, similar to what Kat shared to us, Olympus, it's really all about where does it fit in our portfolio strategically, and do we actually have a right to win? Because if it does it. Some companies or opportunities with tech may look like they are very close to where we play in today, but actually, when you dig deeper, for example, call points right, they may not be an area where we call on today, and therefore is that the right opportunity for us. So I think there's a lot of other consideration between one a strategic fit, but also, does the company itself? Do we, as all of this have a strong right to win in that space? Think the last thing we want to do is to acquire company and realize that we're going to just, you know, erode the value that that company. Was built

Dave Allen  10:00  
right knowing, I'll add on, it is when you look for early stage innovators, capital is key, so you have to take capital when you can get it. And if it's non dilutive, that's even better. Usually, if you're strategic, you're looking at a broad manufacturing base, or where we have concentrations of R and D talent. Sometimes, as you look to move, that there can be consequences at the acquisition. So for the innovators, just understand, if you're taking non diluted funding from government partnerships or otherwise, you just want to be cognizant on the back end for strategic it just impacts how we would think about it. It's never a deal breaker. It's sometimes it's valuation, sometimes it's movement. It's just how we how we think about it. We were talking about a little bit. The previous panel was talking about that a little bit as well as just understanding over the long term what it looks like on the back end. That's how I'd encourage people to do

Ryan Roberts  10:51  
well. So let's go there. If I'm an innovator in the audience, and I'm thinking about my long term strategy and my potential exit with one of you. What are the areas where you say that's a no go, that's no fly, whether it's regional rights, whether it's IP what are the things in your in your investment thesis or investment model? What are the things that you'd say, Hey, if you don't have to to keep this company moving, don't do these kinds of things. What are the things you would advise them not to give up unless they absolutely have to a key. Do you want

Aki Maeda  11:24  
to start? Yeah, they actually, it's really hard to say. But just thinking about the relationship with, you know, the local startups, we are always thinking about, what is the need from the startup. That means, sometimes, from the startup perspective, they are requesting us to just to see money, but they are from our corporate perspective. We are always looking at the opportunities to acquire the product, or as a company, so we always trying to access to the needs. What is the need for? The start of

Ryan Roberts  12:10  
other perspectives? Felicia,

Felicia Chung  12:12  
yeah, so in terms of no goals, when looking at investing or acquiring targets for us, if I draw this back to what is Olympus core value, and one of it is patient safety and the Able, able to, therefore serve them of quality solutions and products. So one of the things oftentimes that we find when we go deep into due diligence is talking about whether it's business practice quality, that we realize that, hey, you know what? This would be a clear no go for us, especially if it impacts the quality of the lives of the patients that we serve through these devices.

Dave Allen  12:52  
Yeah, there's no no goes for us. I mean, obviously needs to be lined, strategically lined our mission, where we can actually add value, where we're a rightful owner. So those are sort of table stakes on giving up rights or distribution or things like that. The only what I would encourage people to think about is just on the back end, try and have some sort of option or signal where you could get those rights back over time. And because it's Kris was talking about it the on the previous panel, the same way of you want to have at least a pathway in the future, because you might have to make short term trade offs, and that usually has a long can have a long term consequence or challenge. We make those same decisions so we get it. But if you can give yourself building some optionality, I think that's that's valuable, and it's especially valuable and important for us.

Catherine Jennings  13:45  
Maybe a little bit of a different tact to your question is, you know, when I think about making investments or having partnerships, so much of it is about the team, and it's about the team that we're investing in and making, you know, when I think about, what are the no gos? I think, as was mentioned earlier, and then on the panel before us, a lot of these things can be fixed. On the back end, it reduces the value of the enterprise, but they can be fixed. I think, when I think about no goes, I think about, how do we find a team that we want to invest in that we believe can do the work that's going to be required to take whatever the company is from stage A to stage B, and that's, that's really one of the key questions I asked myself.

Ryan Roberts  14:32  
So, so let's go there, because I think we've now, now we're into the people, aspects of things, right? The old adage, culture Trump strategy almost every time. So think about a couple. I'd love to hear your perspectives. I've talked to investors and innovators and strategics from four continents in the last two days. How much does regional variation and culture matter? So. Is the there's the culture of the company itself. And then What differences do you see, and how does it go into your deal models when you think about the culture of the region, how do you think about those things when you're looking for for your strategic partnerships?

Catherine Jennings  15:13  
I'll say for Boston Scientific, at least, you know, this is where we really benefit from having teams in region who are deep in the with the companies in a particular region. So it's not just someone flying in from the US that's meeting someone for the first time, right? It's oftentimes been a cultivated relationship over a very long period of time with partners inside the region. And I think that that's one of the keys to our success is having that local partnership that can kind of parse through some of those cultural differences as we as we look at that. I'd be curious what other people do, how other people think about

Dave Allen  15:53  
it? Yeah. I mean, we were blessed with having, you know, folks and people globally, and so we we leverage them, and any investment we make or partnership, no matter what it is, across distribution, commercial, r, d, collaboration, acquisition, almost always we're doing it in partnership with our regional teams. That's why we have have them, and that's why we work so closely together. And then just the consideration we usually have on companies or pockets of talent here is just how we integrate into our broader company. But again, these are things that are, are just operational and fixable. You know, there's nothing that's that's table stakes, that says we absolutely wouldn't invest here. For some reason, it's just something that we got to plan and operationalize as we think about what a partnership would look like over a long period of time.

Ryan Roberts  16:40  
Okay, those are really nice answers, but my job is to stir the pot a little bit. So, Felicia, what are the what are the nuances of the differences that you appreciate? And kind of, how do you think about it differently? Because so far, we've gotten two very great answers, which is, we have teams on the ground. They understand local culture, and we're very blessed to have that. I want to know what you think about the differences and how it goes into your assessment of startups and innovators?

Felicia Chung  17:04  
Yeah, so I'll stay along the same lines, but I'll try to spin it slightly differently. Olympus is a global company, so I guess we have that benefit, or the luxury to tap upon that very local team on the ground to support us, because oftentimes, I think we may work with a company where not just culture right, but just communication, could be a challenge, and having that local team to help us understand this is not exactly what they are saying. They are saying something else. It just makes a whole lot of a difference. So these are just the little details, right? Yes, there could be differences in culture, but I do think that at the end of the day, you know, as Cat put it very elegantly, it is the team that we're investing in. So understanding who that team is, where, oftentimes the opportunities or the companies that were looking to invest acquire a lot smaller so not just the culture, but understanding that, hey, you know what this is. We're looking at a very different type of operating model. They're agile, they're fast. It's a very much smaller team. We need to also shift our mindset to understand that this is how they operate. How can we, you know, work with them seamlessly in a post acquisition model, integrating them into the strategics M and C global mindset, and obviously making sure that this a plus b or one plus one equals to three, right? Yeah,

Ryan Roberts  18:34  
a key a different of different approach to culture, and that's the way that different nations, different regions, approach intellectual property. How do you take a look at that, and what are the essentials and intellectuals does? Does an innovator have to have all the rights secured for you to be interested? And what if they don't?

Aki Maeda  18:53  
So I think I can say a kind of point regarding the business culture. So maybe you know that the Japanese corporations is taking them, you know, the much processes, I kind of the hierarchy of to make a decision. So I think it's kind of the completely different, even the, you know, the Asian, other Asian Pacific region. So sometimes it's kind of a critical risk to make a deal, even with the Japan anode, the other EPA cooperation. So we are always trying to, you know, the catching up the speed of the startups like the in in the Asian Pacific region. So it's, I guess it's totally different, making addition between Japan and other Asian companies.

Ryan Roberts  19:46  
Other thoughts on IP.

Dave Allen  19:50  
I mean, we want to globalize technologies and so obviously intellectual property and ability to do that's important, so it's always part of our assessment, and in different parts of. The regions. It is higher on the priority list, let's say, of what we look at first. So, yeah, it's, it's, it's important to us. It's important to most. You know, multinational strategics is, is understanding how can globalize a technology, especially in our key markets, which, you know, United States, Western Europe, Japan, China. You want to be able to have those rights and the ability to commercialize the technology. So it's something we we focus on pretty strongly.

Catherine Jennings  20:26  
Yeah, and not just IP from a offensive standpoint, but also, I think that freedom to operate in major markets is just so

Ryan Roberts  20:35  
critical. Yeah, Joe Mullings last night, similar question or discussion came up, and he talked about it as freedom to operate, right? Where are the constraints and where the where the places where you got room to run? Yeah? So, so on that note, we've talked about culture, we've talked about IP, we've talked about technology a little bit. You know, we're veronix, is a professional services firm. Is where I get the plug in for verenex. And we're med Tech's only full spectrum services partner everything from early design ideation all the way to reimbursement strategy and everything in between, like a big CRO so when innovators talk to us at meetings like this, oftentimes it's like we always want to think with the end in mind, and that's someone's going to pay for it, a market that knows how to use it and doesn't disrupt operations too much. But right now, we're just trying to figure out how to get our prototype into a pre clinical lab. How much of the on that spectrum of I've got an idea on a whiteboard to I've got a prototype that's been through pre clinical it's gotten some technical validation, maybe got a decent regulatory strategy in a market or two. How far along that spectrum. Does an innovator have to have that figured out before you start getting interested?

Dave Allen  21:50  
I can go so I number one, just engage us early. You know, it's and we're not always here for capital and not just engaging us for capital, but you know, we'll have conversations and give some advice of where a strategic or where a company is in that life cycle. We can also give feedback on when we'd be interested at certain clinical proof points or regulatory milestones as the company evolves and develops. So, you know, meetings like this are great for that, you know, because we have a lot of early stage innovators here. And so, you know, we take our notes and we follow up, and we love to track companies. So we love to see a presentation, see some milestones, see some timelines, and then see a company maybe six, 912, months later, achieve those milestones without those deposits. Over time. It's really hard to to measure that. And so, you know, I just encourage everyone to reach out for us. On the previous panel for the medics came up as an early stage kind of enabling technology we acquired last December. You know, of person on my team myself talked to that company for 12 years. You know, just to give people a perspective of the of the timelines in which we partner with these companies or talk with them, you reference something similar, you know, it's, it's not like or never does a company show up on our list, or how we're thinking about it, and we immediately acquire it after being introduced on the first time. Almost always, this is a multi year partnership in some way, shape or form.

Ryan Roberts  23:15  
Yeah, Kat or Felicia, different perspectives. Or, do you kind of fall in line with with that way of thinking.

Felicia Chung  23:20  
So I would, I mean, I'll just speak for Olympus, and I believe different strategics may have different levels of risk tolerance, purely from an investment standpoint, for early stage companies. So for Olympus itself, specifically through the corporate venture fund, we tend to invest in companies which have some level of clinical data, clinical validation. So prototypes, for example, just way too early for the for our risk appetite. However, that being said, similar to, you know what David has shared, and that is, reach out to us early, because investments, or early stage investing, participating in fundraiser is not the only way that we work with startups. So I have seen models whereby we look at the technology, we believe in a future of technology, but also that, you know, come back to the point of, can we deliver value? And we have, you know, the experts internally, where we like to, we tend to bring them in, and we, you know, support that specific startup, not in terms of investment, but in terms of capabilities to help them understand, you know, what is the advice we can mentor you on, on your regulatory strategy, your reimbursement strategy down the road, etc. So that's other ways of partnerships that we can support as well. And you know, talking about engaging early as well, a lot of the times. I think this really helps us when it comes to, you know, the next fundraise. So as we journey with the startup and as they develop the technology up to a certain point, it will not be a surprise for, say, Olympus itself to come in late in the game, because we like to always. In the journey, half that early, half that knowledge early on, and we can move very quickly at that point when the fund raise is being initiated.

Ryan Roberts  25:08  
So if I could turn that around, if I'm an innovator, and I've got some limited clinical data, a couple dozen patients, it seems to work well in this region, on this population, that's a great point of entry, but it's probably not the point of entry. Of exit, right? It's a good point of beginning of the discussion and through each of your approaches, there's some mentorship there. There's some opportunity to say that looks great in this particular part of the world, but we're going to need way more evidence, because we're a global company, is that? Is that fair? Cat? Yeah, I

Catherine Jennings  25:38  
think that's fair. I mean, I think in in our ideal world, right? Where we would do deals that are accretive, right, right? And it's really hard to do that with a very early stage technology. Now that being said, right for the MARC, for the right market, the right technology, you might be willing to do that, but it's I love what was said earlier on the panel around take us on the journey of your demonstrated results, right? Because that proven track record is what we're investing in.

Ryan Roberts  26:08  
We're three minutes out. So let's go rapid fire hot takes, if you will. So Ke, we'll start with you, and we'll come down and finish with Kat, one piece of advice for innovators in the office or in the in the audience based on your experience, one key piece of advice and your opinion on what's different as we exit 2025 than we've seen in the past. Is there anything changing we should be aware of? Yeah.

Aki Maeda  26:34  
So specifically in Japanese market, teiji belonging I'm not feeling that there is a big gap between the, you know, the last few years and in 2025 that more the stable in the Japanese market. So my thought to the start of companies in the, for example, Asian Pacific regions, is that maybe you can. You should access to the companies which are the very capability and speciality in this physically, like the disorders on the assist region. So if it's not a good fit to the startup, so maybe you cannot succeed to make the products with a good reputation in the market. So that's my comment.

Ryan Roberts  27:29  
Thanks, Felicia. Words of wisdom and what changes exiting 2025

Felicia Chung  27:34  
Okay, so one of the things I often find very helpful when speaking to early stage companies specifically, is know the strategic that you're speaking to right? Don't just come with an ask for this is my milestone. This is my plan, and this is how much I want to raise, and why. But tell me, how can Olympus help you as well? And I think that just brings a very fresh new angle and rationale as to why should Olympus invest in your company and bring you along that next step in your journey.

Dave Allen  28:06  
Yeah, I know there's a lot of uncertainty here in 2025 but just try not to run out of capital. I know it's a tough fundraising environment, but constantly be focusing, focusing on that. And even if you're not actively fundraising or have enough capital you think to reach a milestone, just consistently, always have that in the back your head, especially as we get through some of these next what I view transient years.

Ryan Roberts  28:30  
All right, no pressure, Ken, bring us home. Hot take words of wisdom. And is there anything different exiting 25 than we've seen in the past couple of years?

Catherine Jennings  28:37  
Yeah, I think I'll just build on what others have said. Maybe one piece of advice is build real companies. You know, don't think about I'm just going to get to this milestone, and then I'm going to have this exit because of the uncertainty that we live in. You have to have a resilient organization that can make it past whatever you thought the exit milestone might be. And so that means you have to build a real company that isn't just, you know, built like a bill to buy, I think, in the way that historically, some folks have approached it, that would be my advice,

Ryan Roberts  29:09  
perfect. On behalf of LSI, thanks to our wonderful panelists, and we appreciate all the pearls of wisdom. Thanks.