Stryker to Invest About $400 Million in CMR Surgical, With Option to Buy
Stryker becomes the exclusive U.S. sales agent for CMR's Versius soft-tissue surgical robots and gains the right to acquire the whole company later.
Key points
- Stryker will make a preferred equity investment of approximately $400 million (£300 million) in U.K.-based CMR Surgical.
- The deal gives Stryker an exclusive option to acquire 100% of CMR's equity in the future and makes it the exclusive U.S. sales agent for the Versius portfolio.
- No price or timetable for exercising the option was disclosed; the investment is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Stryker will make a preferred equity investment of approximately $400 million (£300 million) in CMR Surgical, the Cambridge, U.K., maker of the Versius surgical robot, and will receive an exclusive option to buy the rest of the company, the two companies announced on Oct. 12.
Under the agreement, Stryker will serve as the exclusive U.S. sales agent for the Versius portfolio, while CMR will continue to lead product development and commercialization outside the United States. Stryker's option gives it the opportunity to acquire 100% of CMR's outstanding equity in the future, subject to the agreement's terms. The companies did not disclose an exercise price or a timeline for the option.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Stryker's entry into soft-tissue robotics
The deal marks Stryker's entry into soft-tissue robotic surgery, a segment it has studied for years, according to Andy Pierce, Stryker's group president for MedSurg and Neurotechnology.
"Soft-tissue robotics is a high-growth adjacency and a natural extension of Stryker's strengths in endoscopy, visualization and enabling technologies," Pierce said. "We have evaluated the segment carefully for years, and this alliance represents a thoughtful and disciplined entry that combines the complementary strengths of both companies."
Pierce will join CMR's board of directors. CMR CEO Massimiliano Colella called the alliance "a significant milestone for CMR and a strong endorsement of the technology, clinical experience and global business we have built," and said Stryker's investment would help accelerate innovation and the global expansion of the Versius portfolio.
Versius in the U.S. market
The companies said Versius' modular architecture supports flexibility across procedures, surgeon access and sites of care, and can help providers grow robotic adoption within existing operating room workflows, while preserving operational flexibility and supporting long-term program economics. They described CMR's second-generation robot as having established clinical experience globally across a broad range of soft-tissue procedures. Pierce said Stryker selected CMR because of the opportunity to help hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers expand robotic-assisted surgery across a broad range of procedures.
CMR has announced FDA 510(k) clearance of its second-generation system, Versius Plus, for cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal), and said that clearance put it on track to begin U.S. commercialization in 2026. In the same announcement, CMR noted that the FDA had granted marketing authorization for its first-generation Versius system through the De Novo process in October 2024.
Outside the United States, CMR said in that announcement, its robotic platforms had completed more than 40,000 surgical procedures.
The companies
The alliance pairs a privately held robotics developer with one of the largest medical device companies. Stryker said it serves more than 150 million patients a year through its MedSurg, Neurotechnology and Orthopaedics businesses. CMR, founded in 2014, is a private limited company backed by an international shareholder base, according to the release.
Neither company disclosed CMR's valuation or revenue.