History
The company was founded in 1856 by Thomas James Smith of Kingston upon Hull who went into business as a dispensing chemist. A few months before his death in 1896, Smith was joined by his nephew, Horatio Nelson Smith, and the business became known as T.J. Smith and Nephew.
In 1928 the company developed the wound management product Elastoplast. By 1977 the company acquired the pump manufacturer Watson-Marlow Pumps, before selling it to Spirax-Sarco Engineering in 1990. In 1986 it went on to acquire Richards Medical Company, a US specialist in orthopaedic products for £201 million.
In 2002 the company acquired Oratec Interventions, a surgical devices business, for $310 million. It went on to buy Midland Medical Technologies, a hip resurfacing business, for £67 million in 2004.
The company acquired Plus Orthopedics, a Swiss orthopedics business, for US$889 million in April 2007 and BlueSky, a US wound care business, for $110 million in May 2007.
In September 2007 Biomet Inc., DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. (part of Johnson & Johnson), Smith & Nephew PLC and Zimmer Holdings Inc. entered into settlement agreements, under which they agree to pay $300 million in total, adopt industry overhauls and undertake corporate monitoring to avoid criminal charges of conspiracy.
The company acquired Healthpoint Biotherapeutics, a specialist in the bioactives area of advanced wound management, for $782 million in December 2012
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