A HIGH tec medical instrument company based in Chepstow has raised £48.5m for global expansion from the sale of 38.8 million new shares.

Creo Medical Group plc - which makes a device that lets doctors operate without puncturing the skin – says the proceeds will help extend its clinical education programme, increase the number of distribution agreements with third parties and partners worldwide and accelerate the roll-out of its products.

It will also be used towards a move into the US market, and allow the surgical endoscopy firm to explore strategic mergers and acquisitions and boost its manufacturing capability and product range.

The cash will help Creo Medical, which listed on London’s junior Aim market in 2016, commercialise its flagship device, Speedboat, as well as developing a number of other products in its pipeline, said chairman Charles Spicer.

Speedboat is already approved in the US and Europe and is being used at hospitals across the UK.

It allows doctors to zap tumours and remove lesions in the gastrointestinal tract using an endoscope in less than an hour.

Chief executive officer of the Beaufort Park-based business, Craig Gulliford, said: “The monies raised will enable us to accelerate our commercialisation strategy, complete the development of our existing surgical suite of minimally invasive instruments and develop new products, as well as attract partners and enable the potential for strategic mergers and acquisitions.

“We believe that our CROMA-advanced energy electrosurgery platform and range of devices are at the vanguard in the evolution of minimally invasive surgical procedures.”