Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew plc is a British-based multinational medical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is an international producer of arthroscopy products, advanced wound management products, trauma and clinical therapy products and orthopedic reconstruction products. Its products are sold in over 90 countries.

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 acquired the licence to market and produce the Elastoplast range of bandages. 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.