2013 Medtech M&A Review: Conclusion and 2014 Outlook

By Clyde A. Burkhardt

It’s likely that 2014 will also be a very active year for medical device and diagnostic mergers and acquisitions. The year may start off with a very large blockbuster transaction if Johnson & Johnson reaches an agreement to sell its diagnostics unit, which is focused on blood screening equipment and laboratory blood tests. Reportedly, a full-blown auction process is underway and a consortium of Danaher Corp. and Blackstone, one of the largest U.S. private equity funds, is competing against several other private equity funds. The price is reportedly in the range of $4 billion.

Many of the large potential buyers in medtech continue to have strategic growth plans that include making acquisitions to enhance their existing product portfolios with new products, and to diversify into medtech segments with good long-term growth prospects. Private equity investors have an estimated $500 billion in capital for acquisitions and many are very interested in acquiring medtech companies to use as platforms to build large companies organically and through additional acquisitions. Several private equity funds sold their medtech companies in 2013, and there will likely be additional private equity exits in 2014. Some of the private equity medtech exits over the past two years provided excellent returns for the investors, and that has attracted the attention and sparked the interest of other private equity funds.

Next year is also likely to bring additional divestiture activity, as some of the larger medtech companies continue to shed noncore or underperforming operations and redeploy the sale proceeds to grow their core businesses with the best growth potential or diversify by acquiring companies with favorable growth prospects. As some of the transactions discussed illustrate, many medtech buyers are interested in acquiring companies with leading-edge, next-generation products and therapies. A window of opportunity will remain open in 2014 for the owners of such companies to sell their businesses at attractive prices.

While the medtech industry in general faces many problems and challenges, including the Affordable Care Act, the mergers acquisition climate was healthy in 2013 and will likely remain healthy for most medtech segments in 2014.

Clyde A. Burkhardt is senior managing director of HT Capital Advisors LLC (New York City), a private investment banking firm. He leads HT Capital Advisors' groups focusing on the medical device, healthcare services, and precision component industries. Contact Burkhardt at [email protected].