We love organizations, we love decentralization. We love figuring out how to continue to grow and expand in
the various categories that we exist. Sometimes, we go out and we enter a new category. Take ENT, for example: We bought a company in Minneapolis named, Entellus. It was a smaller organization. We had a little tiny ENT portfolio and we said,
Man, what a great disease state, lets acquire that. And, guess what? Its a stand-alone business. Were pouring water on it, its growing and we continue to do that over and over.
Weve bought some all-implant businesses before. Were one year to this date to the acquisition of K2M, the
close up of K2M, thats a spine business, all implants. Another one thats gone very well for us and were excited about the investments. And not only do we buy K2M, but we backed up and then bought, Mobius, which is a
enabling technology for K2M or for spine within 12 months. So, a lot of times, not only do we acquire, but we continue to invest in these businesses as well.
And, again, a great journey that weve been on. I think Kevin has shared in some town halls publicly recently, recently, as in yesterday, he said,
You know, weve been buying, and we just bought an 18-ounce steak. He said, Were probably over the next couple of years going to have to buy the petite filet, the smaller ones we
have an appetite, it just wont be quite as big. So, this Wright ones as big as Stryker ever done. Its our largest acquisition in the history of the company. So, theres a lot of people very excited about that, and very
committed to making sure it moves ahead.
So, the strategic synergies and scope of Wright and potentially bringing these organizations together, I think,
is pretty clear. But, Ill say it again, category leadership. How do we make sure that were number one or number two in each of the categories that were playing in? And, theres a fit there for sure. We love the opportunity in
upper extremity. We love the opportunity in lower extremity and even earlier today, just learning more about your biologics couldnt be more excited about the biologics portfolio, as well. These are complimentary portfolios that fill
gaps, accelerate growth, drive new technology, enable other areas of the organization. Its an extremely exciting time.
I also think the combination
of the presence in the U.S., and coupling it with the global footprint, makes this a recipe for future growth. I also think that most importantly and I was talking about culture a little earlier that I always claim, its the most
powerful force in any organization. Its those little behaviors that show up each and every day by the people.
Its so important to have a
system and a process and you have that here and its very much like how we approach Stryker. You are built on integrity, youre built on performance, youre thinking about your people, youre figuring out how to continuously
improve that and culture fits are so important when you think about M&A as well. So couldnt be more excited about the opportunity.
So, as we close today, and I pass it off, I do want to again say, just, Thank you. Thank you for the work up to this point. You should all have a
little anxiety like I do, to go, Holy smokes, weve got a lot of work in front of us, and thats what I should think about. Not only do we have to make sure that were continuing to deliver on the performance thats
expected in the fourth quarter, in Q1, in Q2, in Q3, et cetera, et cetera, but we have to make sure were thinking about how to bring these organizations together and do that in the right way. Thats heavy lifting, gang. You know that,
weve done deals, youve done some deals. It takes a lot of energy. So, in advance, I thank you for that commitment and for pouring yourself into it, and we will be doing the same at Stryker and very excited about that opportunity. So,
hes no stranger to the extremity space. He leads that entity for us.
As I introduced him at a town hall earlier this week, I said that he has a
very unique perspective on this, as he was in this organization or a version of this organization once upon a time in his history, and delivered terrific insights throughout this journey. On top of that, we love the future and where
Gordons going and what hes going to help us with and couldnt be more excited to have him with us here today. Please give me a ... help me give a big round of applause at Gordon Van Ummersen, our head of trauma and extremities.
Gordon, take it away. I dont know if you want this [microphone] or that one.
Gordon Van Ummersen Stryker Corporation Vice
President & General Manager, Extremities
I can grab this one.
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