BUSINESS BITES: Zimmer becomes Zimmer Biomet; Amendia grows spine portfolio; Mindray MBO gathers pace

Zimmer has finally completed its merger with Biomet, creating Zimmer Biomet, the world's second largest orthopedics company after Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Synthes. The closing comes 14 months after Zimmer and Biomet's private equity owners inked the cash-and-equity deal. At that time, the deal was valued at around $13.35bn. Zimmer’s stock price has since risen over the past year and the final figure for the deal is closer to $14bn. The announcement follows the news that it was offloading the US business of its unicompartmental high flex knee (ZUK) line to Smith & Nephew, for an undisclosed sum. The transaction was part of Zimmer’s efforts to appease US anti-trust authorities. Additionally, DJO Global said it had entered into an agreement to purchase the Biomet Cobalt bone cement, Optivac Cement Mixing Accessories and Discovery elbow system for the US market. Discovery will be DJO’s first elbow technology. That deal will close within the next 10 days, DJO said.