With deals in hand to sell some U.S. knee and elbow assets to mollify anti-trust regulators, Zimmer (NYSE:ZMH) said yesterday that it’s "highly confident" in a mid-June closing for its $13.34 billion merger with crosstown rival Biomet.
Warsaw, Ind.-based Zimmer said it found buyers for its unicompartmental High Flex knee implant and Biomet’s Discovery elbow device and Biomet’s Cobalt bone cement assets in the U.S.
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Last month Zimmer agreed to sell the High Flex and Discovery assets in the European Economic Area and Switzerland and Biomet’s Vanguard complete knee system in Denmark and Sweden to Lima Corporate SpA. European anti-trust regulators OKed the deal in late March.
Today the company said it’s still working "constructively" with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and is "highly confident that within the next few weeks it can finalize the agreement in principle it reached previously with FTC staff to resolve FTC staff’s competitive concerns regarding the proposed acquisition."
"Upon the acceptance of the consent order by the FTC and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, Zimmer intends to close the Biomet merger at the earliest possible date, which is currently anticipated to be mid-June, 2015," Zimmer said.
In April Zimmer extended the deadline for the merger by 3 months, to July 23, to allow more time to mollify the FTC.
