Zimmer ($ZMH) has made its second purchase in about a month, buying up Germany's Normed Medizin-Technik, maker of devices for bone reconstruction.
The company isn't disclosing its sale price, but the acquisition gives Zimmer Normed's line of plates and screws for bone reconstruction, fracture repair, fusion procedures and external fixation. Normed's technology is designed for foot and ankle and hand and wrist reconstruction, and Zimmer said the products will boost its extremities business and accelerate R&D in two fast-growing spaces.
Just last month, Zimmer paid an undisclosed sum for Pennsylvania's Knee Creations, acquiring the company's proprietary treatment for fluid buildup in bone marrow beneath cartilage in the knee.
As spinal and hip revenues dip across the industry, Zimmer is focusing on expanding its successful extremities business through M&A and new product launches, an effort to jumpstart stalling top-line sales. Last quarter, revenue stayed pretty much flat at $1.1 billion as a 10% plunge in spinal sales and 2% drop in hips and knees stripped away gains in trauma and surgical.
Zimmer's extremities business, while nearly 20 times smaller than its reconstructive devices unit, has been pacing well over the past year, growing 7% in the first quarter. Now, with Normed's products in the fold, Zimmer believes it can continue to capitalize on the growing demand for wrist and ankle devices and expand its share of the global extremities market.
- read the announcement