Rancho Santa Margarita-based Applied Medical Resources Corp., Orange County’s second-largest medical device maker by employee count, has added another building to its already sizeable local portfolio, snapping up a large property not far from its hometown.
The privately held company, reported to have revenue in the $550 million range, recently completed the purchase of 20200 Windrow Drive, a 125,442-square-foot office and warehouse facility in Lake Forest.
The building, just south of the Foothill Transportation Corridor (241) Toll Road, is about 5 miles from Applied Medical’s headquarters and is just a few blocks outside of its home city of RSM, where it counts a real estate portfolio of topping 600,000 square feet.
Countywide, that portfolio now runs close to 1.6 million square feet, in a mix of office, R&D and distribution space, the company told the Business Journal last week.
$29M Sale
An entity affiliated with San Clemente electronic goods distributor Advanced MP Technology sold the Lake Forest building for $29 million, or about $231 per square foot. Mark Jerue and Craig Fitterer from the Irvine office of Lee & Associates represented the buyer; Kurt Bruggeman of the same office had the listing.
It’s the largest reported area acquisition for Applied Medical in nearly five years, when it paid about $37 million for a 300,000-square-foot building in RSM; that property at 29947 Avenida de las Banderas is the largest office in the city.
At the time, Applied Medical was reported to have about 2,150 workers in OC, and $450 million in annual sales.
Since then, its local employment has increased some 40% to 4,200 people, and sales have increased about 22%, according to Business Journal records.
It’s been a decade of consistent growth for the firm. It had about 1,200 employees here in 2011, when it took in about $250 million in annual sales.
Applied makes a range of medical devices, including ones used in laparoscopic surgeries, as well as catheters, clamps, stents and guide wires. It competes with Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, N.J., and Covidien Ltd., which is based in Bermuda but operates from Massachusetts.
Among area device makers, Applied only trails Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Inc. in terms of local workers, based on the Business Journal’s latest ranking.
Edwards has about 5,000 area workers.
Applied Medical’s website indicates it’s looking to hire more than 100 people locally, in a mix of engineering, distribution, sales, marketing and other positions.
Familiar Territory
Like it has done with previous acquisitions, Applied Medical will occupy the just-bought property, which was built in 1997. Applied Medical said the new space will be used for manufacturing, with tenant improvements planned.
The facility is slated to hold about 150 employees.
The new Lake Forest property is familiar territory for Applied Medical, which acquired a pair of neighboring industrial buildings at 20161-20162 Windrow Drive in 2011 for $11.7 million.
Those buildings, referred to as the Applied Medical Lake Forest Campus, totaled 107,270 square feet at the time of sale.
The property has since undergone major renovations. Applied Medical overhauled the interiors and expanded the facility, including adding a second-story bridge to connect the two properties.
The facility is now 150,000 square feet.
Irvine, Too
Applied Medical is also growing in the Spectrum area of Irvine, which houses its principal distribution facility.
It bought a 20-acre site along Toledo Way in Irvine in 2006 that initially held two buildings totaling about 270,000 square feet of office and industrial space.
Those properties, about 8 miles from the company’s headquarters, are next to Albertsons’ massive area distribution facility, which is Irvine’s largest building.
Applied Medical recently built a third property at the Irvine site, which brokerage records indicate runs 125,000 square feet.
Quiet Growth
The company maintains a relatively low profile despite consistent local growth.
In 2011, the company filed paperwork for an initial public offering after pressure from Institutional Venture Partners, a late-stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park that previously had a 20% stake in the company.
Applied Medical resisted those plans, and eventually withdrew the IPO plans by mid-2013.
At the time, the company’s regulatory statements indicated it owned a mix of 15 manufacturing and office properties totaling a little more than 800,000 square feet.
Since then, it has added about 800,000 square feet of space locally, via acquisition or development, according to the company.
