Brian Tinsman
Digital Properties Manager
Update 11/16: The deal for K2M Inc. to becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Stryker is official.
According to the Washington Business Journal, this move is good for business, as K2M’s revenue is expected to grow as a division of Stryker, “with projections of $333 million in 2019, $376 million in 2020, $423 million in 2021 and $476 million in 2022, according to its proxy. That follows a period of already notable revenue growth for K2M, climbing 19 percent from $216 million in 2015 to $258 million last year.”
Original Story: In news announced on Thursday morning, Leesburg-based K2M Inc. has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Fortune 500 medical technologies company Stryker Technologies for approximately $1.4 billion.
K2M is a global leader in complex spine and minimally invasive solutions, building specialized equipment, training medical professionals, and doing business and charitable work dozens of countries in six of the world’s seven continents.
“Joining Stryker will be a very exciting next chapter for our global team and surgeon customers around the world,” said K2M Chairman, CEO and President Eric Major. “Stryker’s established leadership in the orthopedic and neurosurgical market, combined with K2M’s culture of innovation and leadership in complex spine and minimally invasive solutions, represent a powerful opportunity for Stryker to strengthen its leadership in the $10 billion global spine market.”
Major launched K2M Inc. out of his garage in Loudoun County in 2004, using his years of selling medical equipment to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. Major launched K2M knowing that he would have to compete with the likes of Johnson & Johnson, which owns 250 subsidiary companies and has customers in 175 countries around the world.
Going up against such long odds was an inspiration for the K2M name: K2 after the hardest mountain in the world to climb, and 2M to signify the business partnership with his wife, Lara.
By leveraging Loudoun’s small business resources, Major and his team were able to expand operations and become publicly traded in 2014. In June 2016, K2M opened a brand new headquarters in Leesburg with more than 300 employees.
“This creates an environment of collaboration for project managers and engineers to really facilitate innovation,” Major said at the time. “Whether it’s in Asia Pacific or Europe, with the time difference, we’re literally doing surgeries 24 hours a day around the world.”
ALSO READ: Major Compares Starting a Business to Summertime Fun
Major was the keynote speaker at this year’s Loudoun Small Business Conference in May and inspired a room full of Loudoun entrepreneurs with his advice.
“This county has so many resources for you, it is astonishing,” he said. “When Lara and I started our first company, I had no idea where to go or what to do.
“Had I known about the Small Business Development Center or [Loudoun Economic Development], the George Mason Enterprise Center — the resources are here to help you succeed.”
After the deal with Stryker is completed, Major is expected to be appointed as the President of Stryker’s Spine Division.
