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While Stryker was busy integrating a bold acquisition – read the $1.65 billion acquisition of orthopedics robotics maker Mako Surgical – as a way to cement its future, Zimmer was busy solidifying its future by buying rival Biomet for $13.4 billion.
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Scale was what mattered to Zimmer given the tsunami of value-based care headed its way in terms of M&A strategy not necessarily technological innovation. In fact just last year, Zimmer Biomet, based in Warsaw, Indiana was explaining why it had deliberately chosen to skip the robotics trend in ortho.
Well, what a difference a year makes.
On Monday, the hip and knee-maker jumped on the robotics bandwagon, announcing that a wholly-owned subsidiary is buying 58.8 percent of the outstanding shares of French surgical robotics maker Medtech SA as well as its convertible bonds and warrants. The company will pay 50 euros ($55.4) per share, 50.03 euros per convertible bond and 17.17 per warrant.
As soon as possible, Zimmer Biomet plans to make an all-cash offer for the remaining Medtech shares, according to a news release. Bertin Nahum, Medtech’s CEO, who founded the company in 2002, will be asked to remain to lead the newly acquired company’s robotic development activities under the Zimmer Biomet banner.
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In January, Medtech, based in Montpelier, received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to market its ROSA Spine robot in the USA. In May, Medtech announced that a 100 surgeries have been completed using the ROSA Spine robot.
The company’s ROSA Brain robot was approved in 2012 for brain surgeries. There are more than 25 such ROSA brain devices in U.S. hospitals and facilities.
The news release was sparse with no executive commentary on why the deal is noteworthy. Stay tuned for some answers.
Meanwhile, interest in surgical robotics overall has been high in recent years with the likes of Verb Surgical, a joint venture of Johnson & Johnson and Google’s Verily, attempting to transform the space. And a whole host of startups, including U.K.-based Cambridge Medical Robotics, which just raised $20.3 million, are aiming to shake up the hegemony of Intuitive Surgical with is well-known da Vinci robotic system.
Photo: Getty, erhui1979