Stryker Buys Turkish Medical Bed Manufacturer
Michigan-based medical device company Stryker has announced its acquisition of Muka Metal A.S., a Turkish company that designs and builds medical beds, stretchers, and other patient furniture. The all-cash deal, terms of which were not disclosed, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.
Serkan Kantarci, CEO of Muka, told Arab Health that his company was founded in 1966 as a manufacturer of office furniture, and then broke into the medical industry in 2004 after two years of R&D produced a viable hospital bed prototype.
Since then, Muka has expanded its business into 52 countries, including the United States, across six continents. According to Muka’s website, the company recently completed a distribution deal to market its products in Russia. Formerly global competitors, Stryker and Muka signed a distribution agreement in 2012 to govern their respective business dealings in Latin America.
Daily Sabah reported that Muka currently owns three R&D centers in Kayseri, Turkey and a production area that is over 50,000 square meters.
“The acquisition of Muka aligns with our strategy to expand our global presence through existing channels with an established and trusted brand,” stated Timothy Scannell, Stryker Group president, MedSurg and Neurotechnology, in a press release.
Scannell commented that Muka’s line of hospital beds, stretchers, and patient furniture would complement Stryker’s existing line of patient-handling equipment and added that the deal would “drive growth in Turkey and other regions around the world.”
Kevin Lobo, Stryker CEO, recently told CNBC that Stryker has seen industry growth for 35 straight years, and that he expects that streak to continue, due in part to recent strategic acquisitions in ischemic stroke technology and the newly developing world of robotic surgical equipment.
Last year, Stryker acquired spinal implant business Surgical Dynamics in a $135 million deal, becoming in the process a full-line provider of spinal implant devices with an 11 percent market share of $1.3 billion in worldwide spinal implant sales.
Earlier this year, Stryker signed a $172 million all-cash deal to take over Pivot Medical, developers of a minimally invasive hip restoration system.
The acquisitions of both Pivot and Muka are expected to be neutral to Stryker’s earnings per share.