Bovie Medical is turning away from its core business segment and will focus on the commercialization of its J-Plasma/Renuvion Cosmetic Technology. The Clearwater, FL-based company is making this move after it announced it would sell its core business segment to Specialty Surgical Instrumentation, a subsidiary of Symmetry Surgical, for $97 million.

The firm’s core offerings include the electrosurgical and cauteries business. The proposed divestiture caused shares of Bovie Medical to be up by nearly 7% in morning trade.

“Today’s announcement of the divestiture and sale of our core business segment to Symmetry is a major strategic transaction for Bovie Medical,” Charlie Goodwin, CEO of Bovie Medical, said in a release. “The Core electrosurgical and cauteries business is the foundation of Bovie Medical and we are extremely proud of the success we have had with this business which dates back to the company’s inception many years ago. At the same time, we believe the customers and employees of Bovie Medical’s Core business are best-positioned going forward with the focus and investment they will receive under Symmetry’s ownership.”

Bovie said both it and Symmetry will also enter into a transition services agreement, a patent licensing agreement, and a disposables supply agreement. The two companies will also enter into a generator manufacturing and supply agreement, which will establish Bovie as an OEM-provider of generators to Symmetry for a period of at least 10 years. Until the transaction closes, the company will continue to manage the core business, providing full product availability and support to customers.

Bovie’s new focus, J-Plasma/Renuvion, is a plasma-based surgical product for cutting, coagulation and ablation of soft tissue. The company said the J-Plasma/Renuvion technology utilizes a helium ionization process to produce a stable, focused beam of plasma that provides surgeons with greater precision, and minimal invasiveness.

A little more than 10 years ago, Bovie Medical strengthened its technology offerings when it acquired technology, patents, and assets related to using conductive sintered steel as an electrode for RF cutting and coagulation from Boston Scientific. The technology helped decrease blood loss, save hospitals money, and speed up procedure times and could be used for tumor therapy in the liver, pancreas, and kidneys, as well as for orthopedic and blood vessel sealing.