Stryker is selling its U.S. spinal implant business to investment firm Viscogliosi Brothers, a move that is expected to help the company "better align" its resources, CEO Kevin Lobo said in a Jan. 28 earnings call.
Four notes:
1. Stryker will still have its enabling technologies and interventional spine segments, Mr. Lobo said, as transcribed by Investing.com.
2. The entire value of the spine implant business, $700 million, is expected to be divested to Viscogliosi Brothers, Mr. Lobo said.
3. Acceleration in other areas of spine care motivated the move to sell the spine implant business.
"We've moved into so many other faster growing spaces, and this is really where we'd like to spend our time and our energy," Mr. Lobo said. "It's a very competitive market on the implant side of the business where we just haven't had the same degree of innovation that we've had in other parts of our portfolio. So this felt like the right time."
4. Viscogliosi Brothers will create VB Spine with the acquisition and serve as a partner with Stryker. There won't be a big difference for customer experiences, and Stryker will do "a little bit more work" with the third party, Mr. Lobo said.