Biomet gets hip with the buyout craze

Posted Dec 18th 2006 1:36PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Private Equity, Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

Biomet Inc. (NASDAQ:BMET) makes a variety of medical products, such as replacements for knees and hips.

Now, a variety of private equity firms want the company to themselves: Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the Texas Pacific Group. What's more, a founder of Biomet, Dane A. Miller, will also be an investor in the deal.

The price tag comes to $10.9 billion. And, it is a lofty valuation. It comes to 21X cash flows and 3.91X sales.

Then again, the company is likely to be sold-off in pieces – so as to pay down the debt load.

The stock didn't move on the news because, well, the company had been "in play" since April when it retained Morgan Stanley as its financial advisor.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.

Tags: Biomet, Blackstone Group, BlackstoneGroup, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, GoldmanSachsCapitalPartners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, KohlbergKravisRoberts, Texas Pacific Group, TexasPacificGroup