Titan Medical has convinced its Chinese partner to convert a $2 million distributor deposit into equity. The deal makes Longtai Medical Inc. Titan's largest shareholder.

$2 million deposit was originally supposed to be refunded, but Longtai agreed to convert the money into equity. The deal signals Longtai's confidence in Titan's surgical robot, known as SPORT. The Toronto, Canada-based company is poised to take on market leader Intuitive Surgical.

Titan and Longtai have worked together since May 2015, when the pair inked a deal that made Longtai the exclusive distributor of SPORT in China.

According to the deal terms, Titan issued 16,892,000 units, priced at CDN 12 cents a pop (CDN 15 cents). The units consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, exercisable for one common share at 16 cents (CDN 20 cents) each for 60 months.

Titan's system has been in development for years, and the company revealed the first prototype of SPORT in March 2016. The system closely resembles Intuitive's DaVinci robot but is expected to cost much less.

Amanda Pedersen is Qmed's news editor. Contact her at [email protected].

[Image credit: Titan]