Smith & Nephew Talks to Combine With J&J Orthopaedics Unit Collapse Over CEO Role
JNJ sits 45% above its 52-week low of $184.66.
Summary
Talks to merge J&J's orthopaedics business with Smith & Nephew into a $34 billion transatlantic medtech company fell apart after the London-listed group refused to let its former CEO run the combined business, the FT reported. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. For J&J, a $644 billion company, the orthopaedics unit is a small slice of the story — the failed deal removes a potential path to exit a slower-growth franchise but leaves the core thesis untouched. The news lands two days after the Q3 10-Q showed profit collapsing to $0.09 a share on the $5.5 billion talc settlement charge while sales grew 5.9% to $25.4 billion. No financial terms beyond the $34 billion combined-company figure were disclosed, and neither side has confirmed the report.
At the time of this announcement, JNJ was trading at $268.00 on NYSE in the Life Sciences sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $644.2B. The 52-week trading range was $184.66 to $281.07. This news item was assessed with neutral market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Reuters.