Biomet Goes Solo in Europe
Executive Summary
Biomet is buying out Merck's share of their successful orthopedics joint venture in Europe. Although Biomet ran into few, if any, major disagreements with Merck over the life of the joint venture, the joint ownership did sometimes put Biomet in a difficult position. Potential acquisitions all had to be viewed for their potential financial implications on Merck. Thus, one major benefit of the buyout, in addition to giving Biomet more efficient European operations, is that it frees the company to do more acquisitions.
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