6 of the best MedTech acquisitions ever made

There are highs and lows on the MedTech landscape when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. Last week, MD+DI identified six deals in the space that went horribly wrong. Now we’re turning our attention to six deals that not only were highly positive but transformed the industry for the better.

1. Abbott acquires Alere
We know what you’re thinking. How does Abbott acquiring Alere even make the list being that this was a highly controversial deal? Yes, it’s true that Abbott became lukewarm with the prospect of Alere when it was disclosed that a federal grand jury subpoena related to a U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation involving sales practices from 2013 to 2015 in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. And yes, it’s true that Abbott even offered up to $50 million to walk away from the proposed merger, but Alere’s board rejected the offer and approved the deal.

But it worked out in the end and Abbott really began to see the benefit of adding on the diagnostics powerhouse once the pandemic began. It could be argued the Alere acquisition helped Abbott bring in some strong quarters with its diagnostic offerings. The acquisition strengthened Abbott’s diagnostic firepower and helped carry it through the pandemic, when other large strategics struggled to get a footing.

2. Johnson & Johnson acquires Auris Health
The surgical robotics space, sorry, the robotic-assisted surgeries space was piping hot with anticipation in 2019. The talk about potential competitors to Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci was getting louder. The volume was on 10 when Johnson & Johnson announced it would acquire Auris Health for $3.4 billion.

The acquisition not only gave J&J access to the Monarch Platform, an FDA cleared system used in bronchoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, it also resulted in Frederic Moll, MD, CEO and Founder of Auris joining the company.

Moll has an extensive resume in the robotics field. Not only has he served as the CEO and founder of Hansen Medical, but he also co-founded Intuitive Surgical – yes, the Intuitive Surgical we referenced a paragraph ago.

3. Stryker acquires K2M
In 2018, there wasn’t any uncertainty in orthopedics and elective procedures. It would still be two years later during the pandemic when such fears surrounding elective procedures would arise. But in 2018 the coast was clear, and Stryker was ready to be involved in some M&A.

The Kalamazoo, MI-based company plopped down about $1.4 billion to acquire K2M, a specialist in complex spine and minimally invasive procedures. K2M’s Serengeti minimally invasive retractor system garnered a Medical Design Excellence Award in 2010 and was included later that year on MD+DI’s list of 50 Companies to Watch.

K2M was also one of the 25 most attractive MedTech companies on the M&A radar.

4. Abbott Laboratories acquires St. Jude Medical
Before companies started the trend of getting smaller and smaller, there was a time when the firms wanted to get much larger – to have a more diverse portfolio. Abbott Laboratories was/is one of those companies. Abbott acquired St. Jude Medical in 2016 for $25 billion. That acquisition helped put Abbott more solid ground and a much broader portfolio to compete with Medtronic, which had acquired Covidien about two years earlier for $43 billion.

The acquisition indirectly helped Abbott take a leading and dominant position in the LVAD space. Abbott surpassed Medtronic in the space when the Dublin-based company had to pull its HVAD technology off the market.

5. Medtronic acquires Covidien
It doesn’t get any bigger than this. Medtronic and Covidien’s merger is perhaps the biggest boldest acquisition in MedTech to date. Medtronic announced it would acquire Dublin-based Covidien back in 2014 for $43 billion. Yes, there was the whole tax inversion issue, which can be described as U.S. companies to move foreign earnings back into the country without paying U.S. corporate taxes, but in the scheme of things it’s such a small part of the deal.

What is important is that the addition of Covidien not only expanded the MedTech giant’s footprint and scale, but it also set the tone for MedTech mergers for years to come.

6. Boston Scientific acquires Everything
Maybe there was something in the air in 2018. Maybe there was a sense of repressed deal making since the Guidant debacle, but whatever the case, Boston Scientific went off in 2018 – announcing it would acquire nine companies.

The acquisition of BTG was Boston Scientific’s largest deal announced ($4 billion). The company’s largest deal completed in 2018 was Augmenix for $500 million upfront.

Boston Scientific’s president and CEO, Mike Mahoney gave everyone spoiler alerts at the beginning of 2018 during an earnings call. It was at this time he said the company would be making a lot of deals – and they did. MD+DI