Zimmer To Acquire Biomet; Stock Soars
Orthopedics company Zimmer Holdings (ZMH) announced Thursday that it is buying privately held Biomet for $13.35 billion, driving its stock up more than 12% in morning trading on the stock market even though its Q1 sales missed expectations. The cash-and-stock transaction is a merger of near-equals. A press release announcing the deal stated that “the combined company will conduct business under a consolidated name that will leverage the strengths