Biomet to be acquired by private consortium

Biomet has this week announced that it is to be acquired by a private consortium for a total sum of approximately $10.9 billion (5.56 billion pounds), equal to $44 a share. This price reflects a 27 per cent premium over the closing price of the company on April 3rd 2006, the day preceding public speculation of the takeover,

The consortium of companies making the bid to acquire the company includes affiliates of the Blackstone Group, TPG, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. The merger agreement has been approved unanimously by the board of directors of Biomet.

A statement from the investor group read: “Biomet has established a premier position in the development and manufacture of innovative and clinically proven products for surgeries that are becoming increasingly frequent as the population ages.”

It continued to say that the consortium would work closely with the existing management of Biomet while contributing its own resources to add to the company’s existing history of success.

Last month, Biomet announced that, following its decision to retain Morgan Stanley in April to assist the company in the investigation of strategic alternatives, the company was continuing in this assessment and had had a preliminary discussion with Smith & Nephew.