Stryker may sell certain assets to enable Wright Medical purchase

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) has proposed a plan to divest certain assets to Colfax (NYSE:CFX)/DJO Global in an effort to complete its acquisition of Wright Medical (NSDQ:WMGI).

Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker’s proposed divestitures of its STAR total ankle replacement product, plus related assets, and its finger joint replacement products, is in connection with the Federal Trade Commission’s review of the ongoing effort to purchase Wright Medical, according to an SEC filing.

Stryker’s proposal needs regulatory approvals and the execution of definitive documents, so there is no guarantee that it will go through, the filing said.

The acquisition has been in the works for several months, as Stryker announced the $4.7 billion purchase in November 2019. Since then, the FTC increased its scrutiny of the proposed merger in January and a Wright Medical shareholder filed a proposed class-action lawsuit to block it later that month, in addition to probing …

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U.K. probing Stryker-Wright Medical merger

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has begun an investigation into the proposed $4.7 billion merger of Stryker (NYSE:SYK) and Wright Medical (NSDQ:WMGI).

Announced in November 2019, the merger would have Stryker pay $30.75 per share to acquire all of the issues and outstanding ordinary shares of Wright Medical. With outstanding convertible notes, total enterprise value is set at $5.4 billion. At the time of the announcement, the companies expected the acquisition to close in the second half of 2020.

The U.K. antitrust body’s investigation follows one opened in December 2019 by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The Competition and Markets Authority said it will decide by July 15, 2020, whether it will launch a second phase of its investigation.

Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker is the world’s largest orthopedic device company, with sales of $14.89 billion in 2019. Wright Medical, based in Amsterdam, posted net sales of $920.9 million for…

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