The chief executive officer of U.S. medical device maker Stryker Corp, recently rumored to have been preparing a bid for British rival Smith & Nephew Plc , said on Tuesday that acquisitions are his top priority for spending cash, but he gave no hint that any sort of deal was imminent. The timing of acquisitions is unpredictable, Stryker Chief Executive Officer Kevin Lobo said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call."Right now we are pursuing the acquisition deal flow, and we'll see what happens," Lobo said. "We do plan to put our money to work."Rumors that Stryker could bid soon for fellow orthopedic implant maker Smith & Nephew, frequently named as a possible takeover candidate, surfaced late last month.Smith & Nephew CEO Olivier Bohuon, speaking earlier this month at an investor conference, said the company had not decided to follow other medical device makers that are bulking up through mergers.
Smith & Nephew plc is a global medical devices business operating in the markets for orthopaedic reconstruction and trauma, endoscopy (which includes arthroscopic procedures referred to as sports medicine) and advanced wound management. Shares of SNN fell by 0.17% or $-0.06/share to $35.83. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $28.56 and as high as $40.38. On average, 631014 shares of SNN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 357191.
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