Wright Medical And Tornier See A Desirable Partner Choose Another (Seeking Alpha)
Summary
Stryker was expected to be a buyer in the extremities market, but its choice of Small Bone Innovations was a little surprising.
Stryker now has a credible presence in the upper and lower extremity markets, and can use its considerable R&D and marketing prowess to leverage that further.
Losing Stryker as a potential buyer arguably hurts Tornier more, but suggests that Wright Medical could get $35 or more per share from Johnson & Johnson or Zimmer.
It may be a little extreme to diagnose the med-tech market with buyout fever, but it's definitely a frequent talking point - particularly in the case of orthopedic extremity companies Wright Medical Group (WMGI) and Tornier(TRNX). While it may be wise advise not to own stocks just for their takeout potential, the reality is that there is a widespread expectation that major orthopedics players will look to these companies as a way of adding some extra growth (extremities markets are growing at double-digits, and likely to continue to do so for several years) and rounding out their product offerings.
A funny thing happened on the way to buyo...
