Scopia Capital Boosts Stake in CONMED, Plus 2 Other Ongoing Activist Battles

In a separate 13D filing, Scopia Capital Management LP, founded by Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich, reported owning 2.38 million shares of CONMED Corporation (NASDAQ:CNMD), which constitute 8.6% of the company’s total number of outstanding shares. This represents an increase from the 2.09 million-share stake disclosed in Scopia’s previous 13D filing on the company, which was submitted with the SEC in early March. Scopia Capital acquired a new position of 1.69 million shares in CONMED at the end of February 2016 and has been gradually piling up more shares.

CONMED Corporation (NASDAQ:CNMD) is medical technology company that offers surgical devices and equipment used by surgeons and physicians in various specialties such as orthopedics, general surgery, gynecology, neurosurgery and gastroenterology. The company’s top-line results have been on a decline in recent years, so have its bottom-line figures. The medical technology company’s 2015 net sales were $719.17 million, which decreased from $740.06 million in 2014 and $762.70 million in 2013. Similarly, CONMED’s net income for 2015 declined to $30.50 million from $32.19 million in 2014 and $35.94 million in 2013. In early January, the company acquired SurgiQuest Inc. for $265 million in cash, a company that develops and commercializes an integrated access management technology for use in laparoscopic and robotic procedures called the AirSeal System. This access system is anticipated to drive up the company’s 2016 top-line figure by $55-to-$60 million. CONMED’s management anticipates 2016 sales in the range of $760-to-$770 million, which reflects constant currency organic sales growth of 1%-to-3%, the revenue contribution from the SurgiQuest acquisition, as well as possible currency impact of $21-to-$23 million. The smart money sentiment towards CONMED declined in the fourth quarter of 2015, with the number of funds invested in the company dropping to 15 from 19 quarter-on-quarter. Let’s not forget to mention that the medical technology company has seen its market value drop 19% in the past year. Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management owns a stake of 1.81 million shares in CONMED Corporation (NASDAQ:CNMD) at the end of the December quarter.

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