Medtech companies are not that “interested” in M&A anymore, according to a survey taken during a recent MD+DI webinar discussing Medtech Trends and Adaptation. Arda Ural, Phd, a partner, transaction advisory services practice for Ernst and Young (EY) was the presenter for the webinar.

When asked whether or not companies expected to pursue M&A in the coming months about 77% of the participants answered no and 23% an answered yes.

This has been a strong year for mergers and acquisitions, as companies have had a lot of cash-on-hand to put to use. Boston Scientific has been one of the busier firms on the M&A side picking up about 10 companies this year.

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Earlier this year, MD+DI released a list of the Top 25 Most Attractive Medtech Companies on the M&A Radar. The list came at a time when deal activity was red hot in the sector. In fact, Kalamazoo, MI-based Stryker picked up two firms on the list, K2M for $1.4 billionand Invuity for $190 million.

Stryker had also been rumored to pick up Boston Scientific. However, Stryker shot down such rumors disclosing on a regulatory form that it was not in discussions with Boston Scientific regarding a potential acquisition.

In addition to mergers, many companies have been divesting businesses that don’t necessarily fit their overall plan. Back in April, GE Healthcare announced it would sell its value-based care division to Veritas Capital for about $1.05 billion. A few months later General Electric announced it would spin out GE Healthcare as a standalone company.

Johnson & Johnson was busy with divestitures, as the New Brunswick, NJ-based company sold its diabetes unit to Platinum Equity for $2.1 billion and its sterilization unit to Fortive for $2.7 billion.

There is no doubt there has been significant M&A activity in medtech. Whether that momentum continues in 2019 remains to be seen.