"Our entry into the fast-growing area of orthopedic robotic-assisted surgery with the acquisition of Blue Belt is off to a good start. The integration has been smooth. And we're excited about the prospects and our pipeline . . .

So the mid-tier was really one of a number of interests that we have in M&A. As you know M&A remains one of our five key strategic pillars. There's no change really in the level of interest. Clearly, there are a number of areas that we're focused on in terms of high growth areas in established markets. But we're also interested in continuing to build out our presence, our legal entity presence in emerging markets. So no actual change.

And the key thing is that you mentioned about prices, are they more attractive? Clearly, we have seen a softening of prices in the M&A space. But our financial criteria remains very clear and very strict in the sense of we look for return on capital employed greater than by year three. And we look for long-term investments in terms of the NPV [net present value] and the IRR [internal rate of return] of the deal.

So I think that the good news is we've developed a very strong track record now in M&A. I think the Healthpoint acquisition we've delivered returns greater than that that we expected in terms of what we modeled. And similarly with ArthroCare we've turned a very low single digit growth business into double digits. So great success I think on the M&A front. And just a general continued interest in looking for M&A targets."

Julie Brown, Smith & Nephew CFO, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of the company's first quarter earnings call

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