Investments

Cost-Method Investments

Our cost-method investments are included in ‘Investments’ in the condensed consolidated balance sheets and consist of our equity positions in the following privately-held companies (in thousands):



	September 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
Respicardia Inc. ⁽¹⁾	$	21,129	$	17,518
ImThera Medical, Inc. ⁽²⁾	12,000		12,000
Rainbow Medical Ltd. ⁽³⁾	4,178		3,733
MD Start II	1,179		526
Other ⁽⁴⁾	150		—
	$	38,636	$	33,777

(1)

Respicardia Inc. (“Respicardia”) is a privately funded U.S. company developing an implantable device designed to restore a more natural breathing pattern during sleep in patients with central sleep apnea ("CSA") by transvenously stimulating the phrenic nerve. We have a loan outstanding to Respicardia with a carrying amount of $1.5 million, as of September 30, 2017, which is included in ‘Prepaid expenses and other current assets’ on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.


(2)	ImThera Medical Inc. (“ImThera”) is a privately funded U.S. company developing a neurostimulation device system for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. We have a loan outstanding to ImThera as of September 30, 2017, with a carrying amount of $1.0 million, which is included in ‘Other assets’ on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.


(3)	Rainbow Medical Ltd. is a private Israeli venture capital company that seeds and grows companies developing medical devices in a diverse range of medical fields.


(4)	During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, we sold our investment in Istituto Europeo di Oncologia S.R.L, for a gain of $3.2 million. This gain is included in ‘Foreign exchange and other gains (losses)’ in the condensed consolidated statement of income (loss).

Equity Method Investments

Our equity-method investments are included in ‘Investments’ in the condensed consolidated balance sheets and consist of our equity position in the following entities (in thousands, except for percent ownership):



	% Ownership ⁽¹⁾	September 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
MicroPort Sorin CRM (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. ⁽²⁾	49.0%	$	6,948	$	4,867
Highlife S.A.S. ⁽³⁾	38.0%	779		6,009
Caisson Interventional LLC ⁽⁴⁾		—		16,423
Other		17		16
Total		$	7,744	$	27,315


(1)	Ownership percentages as of September 30, 2017.


(2)	During the three months ended September 30, 2017 we invested an additional $4.5 million in MicroPort Sorin CRM (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

(3)

Highlife S.A.S is a privately held clinical-stage medical device company located in France and is focused on the development of a unique transcatheter mitral valve replacement system to treat patients with mitral regurgitation. During the three months ended September 30, 2017, we recognized an impairment of our investment in, and notes receivable from, Highlife. See the paragraph below for further details.


(4)	On May 2, 2017, we acquired the 51% remaining equity interests in Caisson Interventional LLC (“Caisson”), and we began consolidating the results of Caisson as of the acquisition date. Refer to “Note 2. Acquisitions” and to “Note 6. Fair Value Measurements” for further information.

Highlife Impairment

We recognized an impairment of our equity-method investment in, and notes receivable from, Highlife S.A.S. (“Highlife”) during the nine months ended September 30, 2017. Certain factors, including a revision in our investment strategy, indicated that the carrying value of our aggregate investment might not be recoverable and that the decrease in value of our aggregate investment was other than temporary. We, therefore, estimated the fair value of our investment and notes receivable using the market approach. The estimated fair value of our aggregate investment was below our carrying value by $13.0 million. This aggregate impairment was included in ‘Losses from equity method investments’ in the condensed consolidated statements of income (loss). The updated carrying value of our notes receivable from Highlife at September 30, 2017 was $0.8 million and is included in ‘Other assets’ on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.