Wall Street analysts tipped 2024 as the year that medtech dealmaking would return after a two-year slowdown when companies were forced to navigate a tough economic environment, complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic still pressuring businesses.
The first months of the year saw a steady pace of dealmaking but lacked many big-name, billion-dollar offers. However, Johnson & Johnson shook up the medtech M&A market in early April with its $13.1 billion proposal to buy Shockwave Medical.
J&J’s offer — its second since late 2022 to top $10 billion — is the largest of the year so far, supplanting Boston Scientific’s $3.7 billion plan to buy Axonics.
In April, Boston Scientific pushed back its estimated closure of the Axonics purchase to the second half of the year after the Federal Trade Commission requested the companies provide additional information.
More recent deals include Hologic’s plan to buy Endomagnetics for about $310 million, Medline’s agreement to acquire Ecolab’s global surgical solutions business for nearly $1 billion and a pair of acquisitions from Labcorp.
Meanwhile, Steris agreed to sell its dental business to investment firm Peak Rock Capital for $787.5 million.
A handful of smaller transactions also round out the list, including Roche’s plan to buy LumiraDx’s point-of-care technology for $295 million and Haemonetics’ planned $160 million acquisition of Attune Medical.
Here’s a collection of MedTech Dive’s coverage of dealmaking so far in 2024. The roundup will be updated as more deals are announced: