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SN. Smith & Nephew Plc

1,004.50
-39.00 (-3.74%)
Last Updated: 11:50:52
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Smith & Nephew Plc LSE:SN. London Ordinary Share GB0009223206 ORD USD0.20
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  -39.00 -3.74% 1,004.50 1,004.00 1,004.50 1,015.50 996.20 1,015.50 1,557,927 11:50:52
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
Ortho,prosth,surg Appl,suply 5.55B 263M 0.3011 33.51 8.81B
Smith & Nephew Plc is listed in the Ortho,prosth,surg Appl,suply sector of the London Stock Exchange with ticker SN.. The last closing price for Smith & Nephew was 1,043.50p. Over the last year, Smith & Nephew shares have traded in a share price range of 887.00p to 1,316.00p.

Smith & Nephew currently has 873,398,889 shares in issue. The market capitalisation of Smith & Nephew is £8.81 billion. Smith & Nephew has a price to earnings ratio (PE ratio) of 33.51.

Smith & Nephew Share Discussion Threads

Showing 451 to 473 of 1300 messages
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DateSubjectAuthorDiscuss
11/1/2011
16:34
well, the share price today has taken quite a dive. if a bid for 750p plus was placed and they are holding out for 900p. Buy some at 670p.
jas_ron
11/1/2011
15:54
Smith & Nephew is warned over Johnson & Johnson deal as shares hit new high

By Simon Duke
Last updated at 11:19 AM on 11th January 2011

Smith & Nephew was last night facing calls to come clean with shareholders after takeover rumours propelled shares in the British hip and knee replacement maker to an all-time high.

In an apparent breach of Britain's takeover rules, S& N declined to shed any light on speculation that the FTSE 100 group had rebuffed a £7bn approach from US medical giant Johnson & Johnson last month.

Weekend reports suggested that J&J, best known for its baby lotions and talcum powder, was considering raising its 750p-ashare bid sent S&N stock rocketing by as much as 13 per cent yesterday.
Cash injection: The Mail reported a bid for S&N, but the firm hasn't disclosed takeover approaches

Cash injection: The Mail reported a bid for S&N, but the firm hasn't disclosed takeover approaches

It is the second time in a matter of weeks that the shares have risen sharply on the back of takeover rumours. Last month the Daily Mail reported that Hullbased S&N had received an 800pa-share takeover bid, triggering a near 10 per cent jump in its share price that day.

Yet S&N (up 62p to 712.5p) has so far resisted the mounting pressure for complete transparency - despite Takeover Panel rules that require companies to keep investors informed of possible offers.

Under the watchdog's Takeover Code, listed firms are obliged to disclose takeover approaches that leak into the public domain or cause an 'untoward' surge of more than 10 per cent in a company's share price. S&N's decision to maintain complete radio silence was met with incredulity by groups representing private investors.

Eric Chalker of the UK Shareholder's Association said: 'It would seem to be strange behaviour on the part of the Board.'

'It must be questionable whether they're keeping the interests of all shareholders at the top of their agenda.'

'There will always be differences of opinion between investors- be they private, institutional or short term.

'This makes it all the more important that all shareholders have the same information to make their investment decisions.'

It is understood that S&N has exploited a provision in the Takeover Code, which says that firms are not bound by the disclosure rules if they believe a spurned suitor won't return with a sweetened offer.

One of S&N's top ten institutional investors told the Mail that S&N chairman John Buchanan was right not to disclose the putative bid from J&J.

'Having to disclose every speculative bid can be very disruptive both for staff and management,' the veteran fund manager said.

'Why should the Board have to put out this information under duress when they consider the price to be inadequate?' he asked.

Analysts said J&J would have to table a firm offer of at least 900p a share to win over S&N investors.

Read more:

losses
11/1/2011
08:48
a bit of a sell-off tis morning after yday's sharp rise. buying some at 690p
jas_ron
10/1/2011
13:40
from ft alphaville this am


NH Hola
NH and welcome to Markets Live
NH one moment
NH just finishing a phone call
NH Bryce is here
NH right I'm done with tthat
NH just discussing the curious case of Smith & Nephew
NH has there bid a bid or not
BE Well, it's a shambles isn't it.
NH yep
BE Here's the relevant bit of the UK Takeover Code
BE an announcement is required when, following an approach to the offeree company, the offeree company is the subject of rumour and speculation or there is an untoward movement in its share price.
NH well we had that before Xmas
NH shares up 9% following a rumour in the Daily Mail
NH and up 11% today
NH after a report on Sky News of a bid approach from J&J
NH and still
NH no statement
BE In case anyone wants to know what an untoward movement is, it's this
BE a price movement of 10% or more above the lowest share price since the time of the approach. An abrupt rise of a smaller percentage (for example, a rise of 5% in the course of a single day) could also be regarded as untoward
BE So.
Smith And Nephew Plc (SN.:LSE): Last: 723.00, up 73 (+11.23%), High: 739.00, Low: 715.00, Volume: 8.46m
NH hmmm
NH of course the story could be false
NH in which case
NH surely the Panel or the FSA
NH need to come up with a mechanism to clear this sort of thing up
NH there's a false market in the shares at the moment
NH so someone should be forced to say either
NH this story is rubbish
NH or it's true
NH and then if needed provide context
NH ie it's stale and they won't be coming back
NH making a mockery of the whole system
BE I'm increasingly of the opinion that the UK market should trade at a discount to others.
BE Because the regualtion's obviously faulty.
BE It fails.
BE We should just leave the UK to the Tilt guys, to cover along with Sudan and Kazakhstan.
NH
NH well resource stocks now account for a third of the FTSE 100
NH why not
NH (pakora – but this time there is a very detailed story from a reporter with a serious track record. this is isn't flakey market report chat)
BE (DLC: Yes, I think the takeover regulation is far superior in Australia, Canada and South Africa, to name but three.)
NH anyway one interesting aside
NH the advisers to S&N
NH are the same as De La Rue
NH JP Morgan financial advisers (along with UBS)
BE Hm.
NH and Brunswick do the PR
NH in fact it is the same team at De La Rue
NH obviously correlation does not equal cause
NH but funny nonetheless
BE A coincidence, certainly.
BE However, we shall return to this theme later.
NH yes
NH I'm sceptical J&J could bid
BE But for the moment, let's take a deep breah and look at the wider market shall we?
.
.
.
.
.
BE Back to Smith & Nephew I guess.
BE So, since there's no statement, the assumption is that J&J has not stuck in a formal bid.
NH hmmm
NH been looking at this
NH and there are big hurdles
NH anti trust is meaningful
NH to such a degree that any of the synergies from buying S&N
NH might have to be divested
NH that said
NH there would be other cost savings
NH putting S&N products through the J&J machine
NH that would save loads
NH but
NH J&J are being asked to pay a rich price for something
NH they might have to end up selling large chunks of
BE That's all true.
NH I have some facts and figures on the competition angle via merrill lynch
NH any potential deal would face difficult regulatory hurdles in our view, with
potential concerns over the companies' combined market share in the US,
Germany and the UK. We estimate that Smith & Nephew has a c12% global
market share in both hip and knee joint reconstruction markets, and that a
combined Smith & Nephew JNJ DePuy would have a 35-36% global market
share in hips and knees. In arthroscopy, we estimate SNN has a 24% global
market share and that a combined Smith & Nephew JNJ Mitek would have a
global market share of about 39%.

NH and some valuation work
NH We note that Smith & Nephew's 90 day average price is 596p. A 20-30%
premium to its recent trading range, in line with similar medical device deals in
recent years, would imply an acquisition price of 715-775p.
A price of 800p would imply a 2010E sales multiple of 3.0x and 9.6x 2010E
EBITDA (Equity/EBITDA: 9.2x). At 750p, a potential offer would imply 2.8x 2010E
sales and 9.0x 2010E EBITDA. We would note that an offer of 800p would imply
a market cap of $11.1bn. At 3Q10, JNJ had net cash of $10.1bn.
We note that private equity acquired Biomet in 2007 for 5.4x trailing 12 months
sales and Smith & Nephew itself paid 3.0x for European peer Plus Orthopaedics
(also 2007). Zimmer paid 4.4x for Centerpulse in 2003

BE Hm
BE It's an interesting theory after so many rumours about an S&N/Biomet merger though.
BE I guess S&N+Biomet would be an easier sell for the antitrust authorities
NH much easier
NH I still maintain S&N have been looking at this
BE And a tougher competitor for J&J.
NH although the odds of confimation on that
NH ZERO
NH anyway
NH a bit more comment on this
NH then we should move on
NH this comes from OliveTree Securities
NH Worth noting that there would be significant anti-trust hurdles for JNJ to acquire S&N, there are significant overlaps in areas such as knee and hip implants. Given how expensive any S&N deal would be, a transaction would likely be reliant on synergies to make the mathematics work – with sizable disposals it is likely these benefits are eroded significantly. It should be remembered though that there are material central cost synergies to potentially takeout of S&N, reducing the central admin costs would be easy for a player such as JNJ. Whereas we think it is indeed likely that something is afoot regarding S&N, the path to completion is a complicated one, and the shareprice should reflect this. We also wonder why we have not yet seen clarification from either party
NH Smith & Nephew has been a perennially rumoured bid target for a number of years- although the list of potential acquirers is relatively small. The specialists in the space (Zimmer, Stryker) could not do a deal from an anti-trust perspective, so it would be reliant on a mode diversified player choosing to bulk up in this area. JNJ is already a serious player though – it would again remain to be seen what level of divestments would be acceptable to make the maths work. JNJ, Stryker and Zimmer are all market leaders in at least one specific field in which S&N operates – all three would see material divestments, although it could be argued that as part of a larger diversified player, JNJ could stomach these better.
NH you will note there
NH That Zimmer and Stryker would also have competition issues
NH there really aren't that many bidders around for this
NH and S&N's recent performance hasn't been great
NH When a group of Private-Equity players (Blackstone, GS, KKR, TPG) bought Biomet in 2006, it paid 23x consensus PE and c15x EV/EBITDA, still some 50% premium to the implied S&N valuation. Of course this was done in a bull market environment though, and the private equity groups were forced to outbid S&N itself for the asset. Note also that the reconstructive orthopaedic markets have been declining since this time too – it is highly unlikely any multiple today would get close to these prices. Ever since this point, there has been talk that these Private Equity groups would look to acquire S&N to put the businesses together again as previously planned. Indeed, this was the rumour in the market pre-Christmas, but work we did shows that Biomet is still far too levered to be able to afford any bid for S&N, a deal structured in this fashion is highly unlikely. Given that S&N failed to acquire both Biomet and Centerpulse (sold to Zimmer), the company has been left as a "sub-scale" sitting-duck, and it has been perceived that it is now a clear target rather than acquirer going forward.
NH Conclusions here is that bid rumours for S&N come as no surprise, and the sheer level of talk of this stock in the market over Christmas make it seem likely something is indeed at foot – but the transaction is complicated from an anti-trust perspective. JNJ will get asked to pay a top-end price for this asset, despite the potentially destructive nature of the divestments necessary, and it is going to be hard to see how interlopers such as Biomet, Zimmer and Stryker could also become involved.
NH Right
NH i'm done on this topic
NH (value – we and others have talked to IR before and they told us there was no bid approach. we thus discount heavily anything they say)
NH in fact value
NH here's what they told one broker
NH back in December
NH when the bid rumours were about
NH they say the rumour of a bid comes round every four months, usually following a move higher in the share price. IR has an article from 1996 from the Times talking about a bid for the company which shows how long these rumours have been circulating. No real comment on what are the attractions of the S&N business to rivals but did say that back in around 2000 US peers were trading on relatively higher multiples than S&N which caused some to speculate they could bid for S&N. Does not really think consolidation is needed in the sector as it is quite highly concentrated – 5 players in hips and knees have 85% of mkt, 3 players in trauma with 75% and 4 players in endoscopy with 70%. S&N's own focus on expansion is on new tech and distribution.
NH I guess
NH we will never know what has really gone on
NH but the whole situation is unsatisfactory
BE As I say. Total failure of UK regulation and disclosure rules.
NH agreed
.
.
.
.
BE Ok – Neil's on the phone.
BE S&N related.
BE So we'll just hold on a minute for that to conclude before signing off.
BE Just in case there's any fresh information to share.
BE Sounds like guidance ....
BE Still talking.
NH back
NH just going over Panel rules
NH so the situation as things stand
NH I believe
NH is that if S&N aren't in talks
NH they don't have to say anything
NH however
NH if J&J are considering something
NH they have to make a statement
NH but
NH I still think
NH this situation needs to be cleared up
NH and the board of S&N surely has a duty to do that
NH I surging share price
NH and loads of bid rumours doesn't help anyone
NH the market
NH staff
NH customers
NH and what's the harm in saying
NH yes we did get an approach
NH and we knocked it back
NH and the bidder has gone away
NH can that really hurt
BE I guess the problem is that, if they say they had an approach ....
BE They open up accusations of sitting on price sensitive information when they were up 12% or so in early December.
NH true
NH they should have said something then
BE There's a bit of a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" logic to it.
BE Because, to be frank, they're damned.
BE Someone made a very significant mistake.
BE Anyway, that's all old ground.

spob
10/1/2011
13:03
Broker upgrade target 750p
nellie1973
10/1/2011
12:44
Thanks MIATA reading the above institutional shareholders would sell at 800p+, take out multiples in this sector are tradionally much higher than SN's recent trading range.

I sense that speculators will want to be in SN at 730p but the company will want to retain its independence, echos of Cadbury a year ago

gopher
10/1/2011
11:29
Merrill

We note that Smith & Nephew's 90 day average price is 596p. A 20-30%
premium to its recent trading range, in line with similar medical device deals in
recent years, would imply an acquisition price of 715-775p.
A price of 800p would imply a 2010E sales multiple of 3.0x and 9.6x 2010E
EBITDA (Equity/EBITDA: 9.2x). At 750p, a potential offer would imply 2.8x 2010E
sales and 9.0x 2010E EBITDA. We would note that an offer of 800p would imply
a market cap of $11.1bn. At 3Q10, JNJ had net cash of $10.1bn.
We note that private equity acquired Biomet in 2007 for 5.4x trailing 12 months
sales and Smith & Nephew itself paid 3.0x for European peer Plus Orthopaedics
(also 2007). Zimmer paid 4.4x for Centerpulse in 2003

miata
10/1/2011
01:53
S&N risks investor anger over takeover offer

By Miles Johnson in London and Helen Thomas in New York

FT

9 Jan 2011

Smith & Nephew has risked criticism from its investors after rejecting a £7bn takeover offer without making the information public, becoming the second large UK company to do so in recent months.

Johnson & Johnson, the US healthcare group, approached Smith & Nephew late last year but its offer was knocked back by the hip-and-knee replacement manufacturer's board as too low.

The offer, which people close to the FTSE 100 company believe to be priced at about 750p-800p a share, came at a similar time to when sustained takeover speculation pushed Smith & Nephew shares up by 14 per cent over December. They closed at 650p last week.

It is not clear whether Johnson & Johnson would return with improved terms at a later date, these people said. Smith & Nephew has been a perennial target for takeover talk over the past decade owing to its position as one of the smaller players in the medical devices market, a maturing industry where global players are at an advantage.

The UK's takeover watchdog can force a group to confirm a takeover approach if speculation has an unusual effect on its share price. The company could now be forced to make a statement to the market as early as Monday. Smith & Nephew on Sunday said it was against company policy to comment on "market speculation".

"We are aware of our obligations, and the board is entirely focused on the creation of shareholder value," it said. Johnson & Johnson declined to comment.

News of the approach comes after the banknote printer De La Rue was criticised by some of its shareholders for failing to disclose an approach from France's Oberthur Technologies.

The distraction to day-to-day business caused by takeover approaches means companies can be reluctant to inform their investors when they reject an offer. One UK institutional investor said: "Management teams sometimes have a vested interest in keeping approaches secret. I think a company's shareholders should be allowed to make their own decision."

While Johnson & Johnson was one logical buyer of Smith & Nephew, industry bankers said the company would be likely to attract more interest. A combination with Biomet, the Indiana-based producer of replacement hips, knees and shoulders which was taken private in 2006 by Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, KKR and TPG, is a possibility.

spob
09/1/2011
19:22
I think the Directors should have disclosed the approach.
philo124
09/1/2011
19:20
Hope J&J GO HOSTILE AT 825P. What a cheek the Directors didn't disclose- created a false market perhaps.
philo124
09/1/2011
19:11
A bum fight will ensue for sure 3/4 buyer swill now enter the fray, could easily end up at 900p once the entire episode has played out
cool runnings
09/1/2011
19:07
Thanks; i would have been interested in at least talking at 750p.
Perhaps there wasn't enough sweetners for the Directors. Hope J&J now go
hostile with a 825p knock out Bid.

philo124
09/1/2011
17:12
Ok, the full report is on sky news, valuing business at £7bln, if you scroll back a few posts I have posted the article, so this would equate to 800p
cool runnings
09/1/2011
17:09
was just an article I was reading - Said 750 ish a share.
2ngh
09/1/2011
17:07
Its £7bln which is £8 a share
cool runnings
09/1/2011
17:01
J&J 750 a share bid....
2ngh
09/1/2011
11:13
Also from The Times...

Earlier this week, speculators were adamant that the American drug company Merck was prepared to pay 900p a share for the maker of hip replacements. Yesterday, a press report suggested that there may be a merger on the cards with Biomet, owned by American private equity. Either way, S&N eased a further 12½p to 650p after cautious comments from both its brokers, UBS and JPMorgan Cazenove. Neither was sentiment towards the shares help by Biomet, which admitted overnight that sales were growing only sluggishly.

artnouveau
09/1/2011
11:10
Smith & Nephew, the FTSE 100 manufacturer of hip and knee replacements, has received a £7bn takeover approach from Johnson & Johnson, its US-based rival, I can reveal.

An indicative offer valuing Smith & Nephew (S&N), one of the world's largest orthopaedics-makers, at more than 750p-a-share was tabled with the company several weeks before Christmas, I'm told.

The approach from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was discussed by board members at S&N before being rejected on the basis that it substantially undervalued the company.

I understand that the American company has been evaluating whether to return with a higher offer although there's no certainty that it will do so.

News of the approach raises once again the prospect of a major British company being swallowed by an overseas rival. That would no doubt attract political attention, particularly from Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, who has commissioned a review of issues such as the efficacy of Britain's laissez-faire takeover regime in the wake of Cadbury's sale to Kraft Foods.

S&N is a world leader in its field and specialises in advanced wound-care products such as dressings and gels, endoscopy and other medical devices, as well as its orthopaedics business.

S&N's shares have been inflated by persistent takeover speculation in recent months, and shot up by 9 per cent during one trading session alone in early December.

Yesterday, however, the shares slipped 1.9 per cent to close at 650p after S&N's privately-owned rival, Biomet, reported that sales growth had slowed and that pricing had become tougher for the hip and knee implants it sells. At yesterday's closing price, S&N is valued at £5.74bn.

Biomet, which is owned by a quartet of investment firms including the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, has also been touted as a likely bidder for S&N. It's possible (perhaps even likely) that if J&J does return with a higher offer, that it would be tempted to enter the fray, although it would face significant financing constraints.

Other competitors such as Stryker and Zimmer may also be interested in a bid.

My disclosure that S&N did in fact receive a takeover approach before Christmas is likely to raise the issue of why it was not disclosed to the stock market despite such protracted speculation.

S&N and its advisers would probably argue that since much of that speculation centred on the wrong bidder (Biomet rather than J&J), there was no need to confirm the approach in a public statement.

It's not hard to understand why boards prefer not to confirm takeover offers that they have already turned down. A prolonged period of having to publicly fend off suitors causes uncertainty for employees and distracts management from concentrating on running their company.

Nonetheless, investors may look at a similar situation at De La Rue, the banknote printer, and feel aggrieved that they are not being given the appropriate opportunities to consider takeover approaches for the companies they own.

I suspect that S&N will only issue a public statement confirming the approach from J&J if its share price moves materially on Monday morning.

That said, there aren't too many other similarities between S&N and De La Rue. The orthopaedics-maker is performing well under David Illingworth, its chief executive, whereas the banknote printer is going through a period of turmoil and facing the loss of its largest customer.

Indeed, S&N beat analysts' expectations at its third-quarter results in November as a result of improved sales of its trauma therapy and wound-care products. The company also cheered the City by promising to increase its investment in growth markets such as China and India.

S&N declined to comment today on the takeover approach, while J&J could not be reached for comment.

cool runnings
09/1/2011
11:05
The Sunday Times report that Sky News last night claimed that Johnson & Johnson had made a tentative approach for SN. last month at 800p per share
macs
09/1/2011
10:40
They will confirm the bid approach tomorrow morning for sure, up 100p I would expect, let the games begin
cool runnings
09/1/2011
10:11
It fell on Friday on downgrade and US peer group company disappointing earnings,and doubts re bid. I couldn't open 60 blog. If you are a Medium Term
holder i don't think there's anythinh to worry about.

philo124
09/1/2011
09:29
well spotted PP , wonder what Monday will bring ??
scrapman
08/1/2011
23:07
bid approach...
pick panther
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