...analysts from Needham said a bid from US peer Stryker looks “highly likely” even without the benefit of a tax inversion.
The scale and market share Stryker would gain by buying S&N makes a deal “too attractive to ignore”, said Needham. Offering a 20 per cent premium to S&N’s current price would boost Stryker’s cash earnings per share by 12 per cent in the first year even without tax savings, the broker forecast.