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Didactic acquires Hygie, a Canadian specialist of the hygiene market

With this acquisition, Didactic establishes itself as a leading global player in the fast-growing hygiene market and reinforces its international and industrial footprint

Étainhus, July 18 th , 2022

Didactic acquired Hygie, a company based in Canada designing, manufacturing, and distributing medical devices to manage body fluids.

Founded in the province of Quebec in 2006 by Eric Tanguay, Hygie is born out of the ambition to reduce the risk of nosocomial infections in hospitals and care facilities following major problems encountered by Canadian hospitals between 2003 and 2006.
Hygie has played a pioneering role in the hygiene niche market by raising awareness and spreading best practices within hospitals and by developing and manufacturing reliable, innovative and environmentally-friendly solutions highly appreciated by its clients and recognized by all stakeholders in the health and hygiene market.

The company generates about CAD$9m mainly in Canada and has successfully initiated its international development with established positions in Europe (France, Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong) and an emerging presence in the United States where its products have recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

This transformative acquisition is highly relevant and fully reflects Didactic’s ambition to become a leading specialist in the prevention of infectious risks :

  • With this add-on, Didactic will drastically speed-up its development and become a global leader in the hygiene market with two complementary and renowned brands;
  • Didactic will reinforce its range of proprietary products and acquire strong industrial expertise and innovation capabilities;
  • This acquisition will also facilitate the development of Didactic in North America by benefitting from a localpresence, an existing customer base and distribution network.
  • Hygie will also benefit from Didactic’s localpresence (France, Spain), commercial teams and extensive distribution network to further expand inEurope and abroad.

Frédéric Viguié, CEO of Didactic

“The acquisition of Hygie represents a major milestone in the implementation
of Didactic’s transformative strategy focusing on three pillars :

  • becoming a leading specialist of infection control;
  • accelerating the international development;
  • strengthening its industrial know-how.

We are very pleased to partner with Eric and his team in the coming years and to build on Hygie’s strengths and leading position in Canada. This operation will enable Didactic to accelerate the implementation of its strategy.

I also wish to thank Laurent Helewa with whom we have been working since 2019 and who played a central role in this acquisition.

The complementarity of Hygie’s and Didactic’s offers, in terms of product range and geographical footprint, will allow us to support effectively all our customers in the prevention of infectious risk.”

Eric Tanguay, founder and CEO of Hygie:

« I am very pleased to carry this major project forward with a leading
role and I will act within this new governance with the same level of involvement and thoroughness to ensure the long-term sustainability and development of Hygie in Canada but also in America and abroad, while maintaining our commitment to quality and reliable relationship with our partners.


The pandemic that we have been facing for more than two years has been an accelerator for Hygie which has demonstrated its capacity to respond to the needs of its clients in critical times, in Canada and in the United States : Hygie has succeeded in expanding its distribution capacity with its local production and its innovative, cost-efficient and eco-friendly technologies.

This operation is the result of sustained efforts and of the ambition to revolutionize hygiene practices. We are proud to broaden our horizons alongside Didactic with a common ambition to offer high-quality medical devices answering the fast-changing needs of the market with the emergence of new infection risks.

I also want to highlight the contribution of private and family investors in the sucessfull development of Hygie in Canada and especially in Quebec, and finally I want to thank all Hygie’s employees for their undeniable commitment and competencies ».

  • About Hygie

Located in the Montreal area, Hygie is a company specialized in body fluid management solutions to reduce Heathcare Associated Infections (HAIs).

  • About Didactic Group

Based in Etainhus, near Le Havre, Didactic is a French specialist in single use medical devices.

  • About FCDE

FCDE is a French private equity firm that supports the development and transformation of SMEs with a strong growth potential. Based on a responsible investment approach, FCDE provides human and financial resources to help management teams drive sustainable operational improvement and long term value creation. FCDE has supported more than 30 entrepreneurial journeys in taking a step in their development by implementing transformative strategies and driving change.

Buy-side participants involved in the transaction:

  • Didactic: Frédéric Viguié, Yann Le Bail
  • FCDE: Brice Carlot, Julien Di Marco, Clémence Dhombres, Salomé Achard
  • Financial Buy-Side Due Diligence – Advance Capital: Olivier Poncin, Guillaume Phillipot, Jean-Charles Rousseau
  • Lawyers:
    • Langlois: Simon Chenard, Frédéric Vachon
    • Fairway: Sandrine Benaroya, Louise Abbou, Camille Lamothe