Dentsply Sirona Born Out of $14.5 Billion Deal

The new Dentsply Sirona is touting itself as the world's largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies.

Qmed Staff

DENTSPLY International and Sirona Dental Systems said Monday that they have completed their $14.5 billion "merger of equals."

With a previously estimated $3.8 billion a year in annual revenue and 15,000 employees, the new Dentsply Sirona is touting itself as the largest maker of dental medical devices and technologies in the world. DENTSPLY International  was already one of the largest medical device companies globally even before the merger.

The merger is also good news for Pennsylvania and its aspirations to grow as a medical device location. The global headquarters will stay in York, PA, where DENTSPLY International was based. Sirona's Salzburg, Austria, base will now be the international headquarters for the new company.

"As the dental solutions conpany, we will drive long-term growth by being uniquely positioned to deliver innovative solutions and support our customers with the broadest product portfolio and the largest sales and service infrastructure in the industry.  Dentsply Sirona will continue to be at the forefront of the digitization of dentistry, single visit dentistry and improving clinical outcomes for patients around the world," said Jeffrey T. Slovin, the former Sirona CEO who is now CEO of the new Dentsply Sirona.

The merger is but the latest in a slew of M&A deals that are transforming the medical device industry. Another major deal could be coming soon, too: Reuters reported Monday that struggling Toshiba now plans to sell its entire medical device business.

The merger activity mirrors consolidation throughout the healthcare landscape as many players in healthcare, including hospitals and insurers, are seeing their profits threatened as the U.S. government begins to increasingly move away from the fee-for-service model. The new landscape favors large companies who can leverage economies of scale.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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