Houlihan Lokey Advises WillowWood

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that WillowWood Holdings Inc. (WillowWood), a portfolio company of Blue Sea Capital LLC, has agreed to sell a majority stake to CVC Catalyst III (CVC). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Closing of the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant regulatory authorities and is expected in the third quarter of 2026.

WillowWood is one of the leading manufacturers of prosthetic products, including prosthetic liners, feet, knees, and other technologies, across the U.S. and key European markets. Founded in 1907 in Mount Sterling, Ohio, by William E. Arbogast, a bilateral amputee who lost both legs in a railroad accident, WillowWood has spent more than 115 years committed to leveling the playing field for people experiencing limb loss through innovation and the pursuit of the best possible clinical outcomes. The company pioneered the gel liner, a critical interface between a patient’s residual limb and their prosthesis, and remains the go-to liner brand for patients and prosthetists, offering approximately 1,000 SKUs alongside custom liner capabilities that solve the most challenging cases. This has been complemented by a fast-growing feet, knees, and custom-fabrication portfolio to give amputees the mobility they are seeking.

Blue Sea Capital is a private equity firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida, that invests in growth-oriented, lower-middle-market healthcare companies valued up to $500 million. With more than $1.5 billion in assets under management, Blue Sea Capital’s strategy is to partner with talented leaders and differentiated companies, typically as the first or second institutional investor, and deliver strategic and operational value-add that drives growth acceleration, industry outperformance, and business transformation. Blue Sea Capital, the Arbogast family, and management are reinvesting substantially alongside CVC.

CVC is a leading global private markets manager with a network of 29 office locations throughout EMEA, the Americas, and Asia, with approximately €209 billion in assets under management. CVC has seven complementary strategies across private equity, secondaries, credit, and infrastructure, for which CVC funds have secured commitments of more than €257 billion from some of the world’s leading pension funds and other institutional investors. Funds managed or advised by CVC’s private equity strategy are invested in approximately 150+ companies worldwide, which have combined annual sales of more than €240 billion and employ over 660,000 people.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to WillowWood. This transaction further strengthens and highlights Houlihan Lokey’s continued leadership in the medical device industry.

Houlihan Lokey’s Healthcare Group is among the largest dedicated healthcare investment banking groups in the world. In 2025, the group closed 35 transactions in the U.S. and was ranked by LSEG as the No. 1 advisor for all global healthcare M&A transactions.*

*Excludes accounting firms and brokers.

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