Cynosure, Inc. (CYNO)

Cynosure, Inc. developed and sold laser and energy-based systems for aesthetic and medical procedures. Its products were used by dermatologists, plastic surgeons and other practitioners for treatments such as hair removal, skin revitalization, removal of tattoos and pigmented lesions, non-invasive fat reduction, body contouring and women's health procedures. The company was based in Westford, Massachusetts and sold its systems in the United States and through subsidiaries and distributors abroad.

The company was founded in 1991 and spent many years partly owned by the Italian laser group El.En. It became a public company on NASDAQ, where its Class A shares traded under the symbol CYNO. Cynosure grew both through new products and acquisitions, the largest being its 2013 purchase of Palomar Medical Technologies, which added a broad patent portfolio and a range of light-based aesthetic devices.

Popular product lines in its later years included the SculpSure laser for non-invasive fat reduction and the MonaLisa Touch laser for gynecological applications, which helped drive revenue growth as demand for elective aesthetic treatments rose. That growth made the company an attractive target for larger medical technology groups looking to enter the aesthetics market.

In February 2017 Hologic, Inc., a women's health and diagnostics company, agreed to buy Cynosure for $66 per share in cash, valuing it at roughly $1.65 billion. Hologic ran a tender offer that expired at midnight on March 21, 2017, by which time about 70.6 percent of the shares had been tendered. Hologic completed a short-form merger on March 22, 2017, converting the remaining shares into the right to receive $66 each, and the stock left NASDAQ.

Hologic later decided the aesthetics business was not a good fit and sold Cynosure to a private equity firm at the end of 2019, well below its purchase price. Hologic itself was taken private by Blackstone and TPG in a deal completed in April 2026, after which its own shares were removed from NASDAQ.