How Moved My Turkey? November Deals Drop 26%

How Moved My Turkey? November Deals Drop 26%

Calm down. So deal volume plummetted 26%, to a mere 136 deals compared with October’s 183 (that’s a monthly record, by the way). November is typically a slower month for deal making, what with a four-day Thanksgiving holiday diverting attention away from healthcare transactions. This November’s deal volume bested last year’s results by 24% (110 deals), at least. This is still the fourth quarter, after all, and December 31st is looming on the horizon. We expect to see some late-in-the-month action move the quarter’s goal posts toward higher ground. Last year’s fourth quarter ended with 396 transactions, virtually dead even with Q4:16’s 397 deals. We’ll likely beat those totals in 2018.... Read More »
Medtronic Adds AI Component to its Diabetes Group

Medtronic Adds AI Component to its Diabetes Group

It’s been some time since Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) added outside capabilities to its Diabetes Group. Since 2015, in fact, when it bought Diabeter, an independent clinic and research center in Rotterdam. Now the medical device maker has added Nutrino Health, an Israeli digital health company focused on nutrition. It provides nutrition-related data services, analytics and technologies using artificial intelligence-driven personal assessments. It also has been developing algorithms to predict glycemic responses to food. In April 2018, Nutrino raised $8 million in a Series A round from Pereg Ventures, Nielsen Ventures, Gandyr Group and a number of business angels. Financial terms of its... Read More »
After a Drought, Medical Device Deals Are on the Rise

After a Drought, Medical Device Deals Are on the Rise

The medical device market is making a comeback in 2018, after several years of steady but uninspiring performance. Through the end of October, 103 transactions have been announced. That’s still below last year’s total, but there are two months to go in the year. Deal volume in the third quarter reached 41 transactions, up 32% compared with the previous quarter and up 78% over the year-ago period. This quarter’s deals account for 34% of the 122 deals announced in the previous 12 months. Annual deal volume hit a peak of 194 transactions in 2007, and stayed well above 165 deals per year through 2011 (175 transactions). In 2012, mergers and acquisitions topped out at 145... Read More »
Medtronic Makes a Billion-Dollar Bet on Mazor

Medtronic Makes a Billion-Dollar Bet on Mazor

A couple of weeks ago we noted the rash of medical device deals targeting spine surgery, some small, some not so small. Now the 800-lb. gorilla of medical device deals, Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) has weighed in with the biggest spine deal of the year. On September 21, the Ireland-based company announced its acquisition of Israeli medtech company Mazor Robotics Ltd. (NASDAQ: MZOR) for $1.34 billion. The deal strengthens Medtronic’s position as a global leader in technologies for spine surgery. Founded in 2001, Mazor pioneered the application of robotics technology for use in spinal procedures. In 2011 the company introduced the Renaissance system, and in 2016 launched the... Read More »
Medtronic Makes a Billion-Dollar Bet on Mazor

This Is (Not) Spinal Tap

We’ve seen a rash of deals for all things spinal in recent weeks, from Stryker Corp.’s (NYSE: SYK) $1.4 billion deal for K2M Group (NASDAQ: KTWO) to IZI Medical’s acquisition of Benvenue Medical’s vertebral augmentation systems. What’s the occasion? Well, it’s that time of year when the big medical conferences loom. The Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) took place in Las Vegas between September 6 and 8, and the North American Spine Society (NASS) do is about to get under way in Los Angeles from September 26 through the 29. On the smaller scale of targets is Maxim Surgical, based in Richardson, Texas, which was acquired by Fuse Medical... Read More »
Medtronic Makes a Billion-Dollar Bet on Mazor

Stryker Strengthens Its Spinal Division with K2M Deal

Stryker Corporation (NYSE: SYK) announced its third deal of the year on August 30, acquiring K2M Group Holdings (NASDAQ: KTWO), based in Leesburg, Virginia. Stryker will pay $27.50 per share in an all-cash transaction. The purchase price of approximately $1.4 billion represents a 27% premium over K2M’s average closing price in the 90 trading days ended August 29, 2018. K2M shares rose nearly 26% on news of the deal, opening at around $27.40 per share on August 30, 2018. Stryker’s shares were down nearly 1%, to approximately $170. K2M makes complex and minimally invasive spine “solutions,” which are implants, disposables, and instruments primarily to hospitals for... Read More »