Wright Medical Technology is an orthopedic company specializing in surgical solutions for foot and ankle procedures. The company's products aim to alleviate pain and restore lifestyles and are available in more than 60 countries.
Here are 12 things to know about Wright Medical:
1. Wright Medical Technology is based in Memphis, Tenn., and currently employs around 900 people. Wright's common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under "WMGI."
2. Initially founded by orthopedic salesman Frank O. Wright, the company's first product was an "all-rubber walking heel" for leg casts. In the 1970s, Wright Medical introduced a line of implants for the small joints of the fingers of toes that featured silicone, a new technology at the time. In 1977, Wright Medical was acquired by Dow Corning, becoming Dow Corning Wright, before being acquired by Warburg Pincus Equity Partners in 1999 and being re-branded as Wright Medical Group. The company issued a successful IPO in 2001.
3. Wright Medical Group has a market size of $3.5 billion, and reported $298 million in sales during 2014.
4. In 2005, Wright Medical acquired Darco International and all of the assets of its reconstructive foot surgery line of business for approximately $17 million in cash. In 2008, Wright Medical completed an acquisition of INBONE Technologies and of the INBONE Total Ankle Replacement System for an initial cash payment of $24 million and guaranteed future payments of $3.7 million.
5. Wright completed its acquisition of BioMimetic Therapeutics in 2013. That same year, Wright acquired French orthopedic extremities company Biotech International in 2013. In addition to an upfront price of about $75 million in cash and stock, Wright paid about $55 million in cash and 742,115 shares of Wright common stock.
6. Wright Medical offers mobile surgical training with a fleet of RVs that can be dispatched at the request of a customer. The RVs are equipped with surgical stations designed to provide hands-on training to surgeons and education about the company's products.
7. Wright and Tornier plan to combine companies. The boards from both companies approved the combination in early June 2015 and the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. The companies await clearance from the Federal Trade commission. Together, Wright-Tornier has a combined equity value of around $3.3 billion.
8. Wright reported $53.8 million in foot and ankle sales in the first quarter of 2015, up 17 percent from $46 million during the same quarter in 2014. Biologics sales were flat at $15.6 million in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014. Upper extremity sales were $5.8 million in the first quarter of 2015, down 12 percent from $6.5 million during the same quarter in 2014.
9. Following the 2011 appointment of Robert Palmisano as president and CEO of Wright Medical, the company began to place a stronger emphasis on the foot and ankle market. In 2012, the company launched several key products, including the PROPHECY INBONE Pre-Operative Navigation Alignment Guides, CLAW II Polyaxial Compression Plating System and ORTHOLOC 3Di Reconstruction Plating System.
10. The company has around 80 percent organizational footprint in the United States and 20 percent internationally. Around 66 percent of the company's sales last year came from the foot and ankle business line; 22 percent came from biologics and 9 percent from upper extremities.
11. In 2014, the EBITDA for Wright Medical was negative $24 million, down from negative $5.9 million in 2013 and $27.3 million in 2012. In 2015, the company expects EBITDA to reach negative $7 million to negative $22 million.
12. The global foot and ankle devices market for 2015 to 2019 is expected to witness an improvement in its growth rate and post a CAGR of 6.67 percent during the period 2014 to 2019, reports MedGadget, citing a Technavio report. The report also named Wright Medical a key vendor, along with Arthrex and Stryker.
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