Medtronic acquisition of Mazor not a surprise, says Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray analyst Matt O’Brien believes Medtronic’s (MDT) $1.64B acquisition of Mazor Robotics (MZOR) is not much of a surprise given the companies’ exclusive distribution arrangement and Medtronic’s existing minority stake. The deal will help Medtronic’s spine franchise business stay on the road to recovery, O’Brien tells investors in a research note. He keeps an Overweight rating on the shares with a $105 price target. Further, the analyst believes robot placements are “still in the early days” and that the acquisition will not “overly hurt” Globus Medical’s (GMED) ability to sell systems in coming quarters. As such, O’Brien thinks the Mazor Robotics takeover will unlikely have an impact on Globus’s Excelsius robot.
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