Middle-market private equity firm GTCR has created a platform company called Regatta Medical Holdings LLC with funds from GTCR Fund XI, the firm’s PE fund with $3.85 billion in capital, to make add-on deals. As part of the deal, the firm has partnered with Robert “Chip” Hance, a 30-year healthcare professional who is investing in the company. Regatta Medical, headquartered in Chicago, is focusing on acquiring companies and assets in the medical device industry. “We are excited to create this medical device platform behind Chip and are actively looking for companies and assets in the sector, including stand-alone businesses and corporate carve-outs,” states GTCR managing director Sean Cunningham. GTCR is a Chicago-based investment firm that has invested in more than 200 companies across the financial services and technology, healthcare, and technology, media and telecommunications industries. The firm has invested more than $12 billion in capital since its inception in 1980. GTCR's investments is underlined by the Leaders Strategy, a program that involves "finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth." GTCR won Mergers & Acquisitions' 2013 M&A Mid-Market Private Equity Firm of the Year award. Demand for more personalized treatment options, an increasing aging population and constantly changing technology has kept medical device manufacturers quite active. The global market for medical devices is predicted to reach nearly $40 billion by 2018, according to trade publication Today’s Medical Developments. Related medical device acquisitions include: Boston Scientific’s (NYSE: BSX) deal to buy heart valve replacement maker Symetis; Teleflex Inc.’s purchase of Vascular Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: VASC) for $1 billion; Medtronic plc’s (NYSE: MDT) acquiring of HeartWare International Inc. (Nasdaq: HTWR) for nearly $1.1 billion; and Edward Lifesciences Corp.’s (NYSE: EW) purchase of Valtech Cardio Ltd. for $690 million.