Biomet Is Coming Public via IPO, Again

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
By Jon C. Ogg Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

What would appear to be an obscure initial public offering from LVB Acquisition Inc. is much more important than it might seem. This is actually the old medical devices company Biomet, and its name will be changing back to Biomet. The company has filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission to sell up to $100 million in common stock. Biomet used to trade under the ticker BMET, and that will again be the case.

What investors need to know about this is that it is what we consider a re-IPO. Biomet was taken private for more than $11 billion in a private equity transaction back in 2007. The company is majority owned by affiliates of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX), Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR) and also TPG Capital. Again, the owner is technically LVB and that will undergo a change — but this is Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, KKR and TPG. They own 97.04% of the company.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Barclays and Morgan Stanley were named as the lead underwriters. Be advised that this $100 million noted is merely for filing purposes. That figure is likely to be far higher as the deal comes closer to the market.

If you go back to the buyout, the $11.4 billion paid was actually raised from an original offering price of $10.9 billion. Still, Biomet posted an 8% revenue gain in 2013 to more than $3 billion.

Biomet’s medical products include dental implants, artificial hips, blood systems and much more. The company did not escape the financial crisis that hit shortly after it went private. Biomet is also among a handful of large companies that were taken private during the private equity boom and have not come public or been resold yet.

24/7 Wall St. did not include Biomet among the 10 most important IPOs to watch in 2014, but that was because it was unknown that the private equity group was going to exit the position. This would easily rank among the top 10 IPOs to watch in 2014.

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618