Medical device maker Kinetic Concepts Inc said it would go private in a nearly $5 billion cash deal with a consortium of private equity firm Apax Partners and two Canadian pension firms.

At $68.50 a share, the deal represents a premium of 6 percent to Kinetic's close on Tuesday.

Including assumption of debt, the deal is worth $6.3 Billion, the company said.

Kinetic, which makes devices and products for wound care and tissue regeneration, had 72.68 million shares outstanding as of April 29.

Last week, Kinetic shares had jumped 13 percent on media reports that the company was in talks to go private in a leveraged buyout.

Kinetic founder James Leininger and certain shareholder parties, who collectively hold about 11 percent of the company's shares, have agreed to vote in favor of the deal, it said.

According to terms, Kinetic has a 40-day 'go-shop' period, during which it can encourage and solicit alternative proposals from third parties.

The consortium has secured committed debt financing from Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse.

These funds, in addition to equity financing from funds advised by Apax Partners, CPPIB and PSP Investments, will finance the cash consideration to Kinetic shareholders.

This deal is the latest in a string of private-equity backed deals, which have risen about 42 percent this year from a year ago.

Recent PE deals in the healthcare sector includes TPG Capital's $2 billion buy of diagnostics firm Immucor , TPG, Carlyle's $1.73 billion deal with Australia's Healthscope and KKR's $2.38 billion buyout of Pfizer's

Capsugel unit.

Separately, the U.S. medical device sector has heated up as well with Dentsply buying AstraZeneca's dental implants and medical devices unit for $1.8 billion, Thermo Fisher going after Swedish diagnostics firm Phadia and Gen-Probe in the market to sell itself.

Kinetic was advised by J.P. Morgan Securities, while the consortium was advised by Morgan Stanley.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2011.

Kinetic shares were trading just below the offer price at $67.72 in pre-market trade. They closed at $64.49 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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