Medtronic Seeking International Acquisitions
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, JANUARY 11, 2012
Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak has spoken extensively about his vision for the company, a pillar of which is "accelerating globalization". At this week's JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Mr. Ishrak addressed how M&A fit into the company's strategy.
Most of the company's cash is generated outside the U.S., which Mr. Ishrak says makes international acquisitions more feasible. This also aligns with the company's increasing overseas presence, namely in China, India and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region.
As far as bite size, the company says it can spend about half cash it generates on M&A, with the other half dedicated to dividends and share buybacks. That amounts to about $2 billion, but Mr. Ishrak also spoke to a more "disciplined" model for evaluating deals. He said that they'll consider tuck-in acquisitions where "a financial value proposition is absolutely clear." Further, the company is looking for deals with "minimal to no EPS dilution."
