Smith & Nephew to Buy ArthroCare for $1.7 Billion in Cash (Bloomberg)
London-based Smith & Nephew Plc (NYSE: SNN) agreed to buy ArthroCare Corp. (Nasdaq: ARTC), of Austin, Texas, for $1.7 billion in cash to add products for minimally invasive surgery used in sports medicine. ArthroCare holders will receive $48.25 a share in cash, Smith & Nephew announced. The price is a modest premium of 6.3 percent above ArthroCare’s closing price level on Jan. 31. ArthroCare makes products used in arthroscopic surgery on shoulders and knees that will enhance Smith & Nephew’s business, the U.K. company’s management said. Cost reductions and additional sales will boost Smith & Nephew’s annual profit by about $85 million in the third full year after the purchase is complete, said the management of Smith & Nephew, makes sports-medicine surgical equipment, as well as artificial hips and knees. The deal shows American ingenuity is valued but Smith & Nephew did not need to pay a high premium to entice a seemingly willing seller.
