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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowBiomet Inc. has offered to buy the trauma products business of DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. for $280 million in cash, the Warsaw-based medical device maker said on Tuesday.
DePuy, a unit of New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson since 1998, also is based in the northern Indiana city of Warsaw.
Biomet, which designs and manufactures orthopedic products for surgical and non-surgical uses, said the deal would greatly expand its sports, extremities and trauma business. DePuy makes artificial joints and other orthopedic devices.
J&J is attempting to spin off DePuy’s trauma products business as it seeks to finalize its planned $21.3 billion acquisition of Swiss medical device maker Synthes Inc.
“We believe the divestiture will satisfy all regulatory concerns relating to the pending purchase of Synthes by Johnson & Johnson, but we will not know with certainty until the regulatory processes in the [European Union] and U.S. are completed,” J&J said in a prepared statement. “We continue to make progress in our work with antitrust authorities on the Synthes transaction.”
The European Commission opened an expanded probe last November of J&J's bid to buy Synthes in a deal that would make J&J the leader in the $5.5 billion trauma device market. The Brussels-based regulator is expected to rule on the acquisition by April 26.
Biomet’s offer to DePuy expires June 1 but could be extended under certain circumstances.
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