Zimmer Makes $50M Bid for Orthosoft

Warsaw, IN-based Zimmer offered Orthosoft Inc., a developer of patented software and instruments for hip, knee and spine implant surgery, $50 million (CDN), or $1.10 a share, for 87.5% of its shares. Zimmer already owns 12.4% of Montreal, Canada-based Orthosoft and has marketing links with the company. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
    “This acquisition will allow us to concentrate on specific applications for Zimmer products and provide outstanding universal orthopedic navigation solutions,” said Dr. Louis-Philippe Amiot, chairman, CEO and founder of Orthosoft.
    Founded in 1995, Orthosoft develops and markets medical software, instruments and computerized systems designed to help orthopedic surgeons increase accuracy in hip, knee and spine implant surgery.
    “We look forward to welcoming Orthosoft’s leadership team and skilled employees to the Zimmer family,” said David Dvorak, Zimmer’s president and CEO. “Their commitment to innovation, sales and customer support in computer-aided surgical navigation has won the high regard of surgeons in North America and Europe. This acquisition will support our SmartTools strategic initiative and will allow us to vertically integrate our Zimmer Computer Assisted Solutions (CAS) efforts, enabling us to direct future development and to apply CAS concepts across our various businesses.”
    Zimmer said it intends to maintain Orthosoft’s current operations in Montreal and will integrate the company with its existing CAS organization. Orthosoft currently has 81 employees, primarily engaged in sales and product development.
    Orthosoft has annual sales of more than $10 million and expects to be profitable late in 2008. In the first quarter of this year, it spent $1.5 million on research and development, double the year-earlier level.