Italian ultrasound vendor Esaote has entered into an agreement to be acquired by a group of Chinese investors. The deal is expected to advance Esaote's expansion plans and bolsters its presence in the Chinese medical equipment market.
Financial details of the proposed transaction were not disclosed. The companies expect the deal to close early next year.
The Chinese consortium includes the following:
- Private equity fund Shanghai Yunfeng Xinchuang Investment Management
- Medical imaging equipment manufacturer Beijing Wandong Medical Technology
- Shanghai FTZ Fund Management, a free-trade zone fund with investments in the healthcare sector
- Healthcare investment group Shanghai Tianyi Industries Holding, which has interests in Meinian Onehealth Healthcare, Wandong, and Ciming Health Checkup Management Group
- Jiangsu Yuyue Science and Technology Development, the holding company of Jiangsu Yuyue Medical Equipment and Supply
- Shanghai Kangda Medical Equipment Group, an original equipment manufacturer and distributor of medical imaging equipment.
The consortium is being led by Jack Ma, a Chinese entrepreneur who runs Yunfeng and who founded Alibaba.com, the leading e-commerce firm in China.
Esaote will continue to operate as an independent medical equipment company headquartered in Genoa, Italy, and maintain its current R&D and manufacturing facilities in Italy and the Netherlands. CEO Karl-Heinz Lumpi also will remain in his current position.
"We are ready to embark on an exciting next journey for the company with the support of our new shareholders, who are highly committed to the healthcare industry and see a great future for Esaote," Lumpi said. "We look forward to learning from and leveraging their deep knowledge and experience of the Chinese market where the potential for growth is significant, especially considering that the ultrasound sector alone is worth nearly 1.3 billion euros in China."
The consortium plans to utilize the distribution networks of Wandong, Yuwell, Meinian, and Kangda to increase Esaote's penetration into the Chinese medical imaging equipment market. In return, Esaote will distribute the Chinese companies' medical products in international markets where Esaote operates.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
