Medtech M&A: Mid-Tiers Poised To Strike In 2015

22 Jan 2015

This may be the year that mid-sized medtech companies step up their acquisition pace to better compete against larger rivals. To be sure, these players won’t rival Medtronic, Covidien, or the other pre-megamerger partners in size or scope, but they could be in a great position to scoop up smaller companies and technologies in a bid to widen or extend their own pipelines.

Every few years or so a medtech acquisition is so huge, so ambitious, that it defines an entire year. The year 2005, for example, belongs to Boston Scientific Corp.’s $27 billion acquisition of Guidant Corp. [See Deal] The audacity of the deal captured the imagination – and derision – of medtech watchers. But deals like that have the potential to redefine a sector. Sadly, in the case of Boston Scientific-Guidant that clearly did not happen, but the deal still serves as a historical milepost by which other deals are measured.

Medtronic PLC’s $47 billion purchase of Medtronic Minimally Invasive Therapies should easily capture the title for 2014.