Dentsply, Sirona Dental close $5.6B merger

Dentsply International (NSDQ:XRAY) and Sirona Dental Systems (NSDQ:SIRO) said today that they closed their $5.6 billion merger, after winning conditional approval last week from anti-trust regulators in the European Union.

Sirona agreed to extend licensing agreements between it and key suppliers, with York, Pa.-based Dentsply also agreeing to technical and legal safeguards for rival block suppliers and a fast-track arbitration process to resolve disputes. In January, the companies’ shareholders approved the proposed merger, which cleared the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s waiting period last November.

The deal, announced in September, creates the world’s largest dental equipment maker. Sirona’s shareholders received 1.8142 XRAY shares for each SIRO share they owned; at roughly $98.06 apiece, that’s about a 0.7% discount on Sirona’s $99.31 closing price the day before the deal was announced.

The combined company, Dentsply Sirona, is slated to trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the XRAY symbol. At that point Dentsply shareholders will own 58% of the new entity, with Sirona shareholders owning the rest. Dentsply Sirona’s global headquarters will be in York, with international HQ at Sirona’a base in Salzburg, Austria.

“By combining Dentsply’s consumables platform with Sirona’s technology and equipment, the new company offers more products and integrated solutions than any other dental organization. Dentsply Sirona’s wide array of products for dental professionals and labs enable the treatment of general and specialty procedures including implantology, endodontics and orthodontics. With the broadest clinical education platform in the industry, the company is driving the adoption of new and approved technology and integrated solutions for more efficient workflows. Customer service and satisfaction will remain a key value to the new company and will be supported by the industry largest sales and service infrastructure comprised of direct sales and leading distributors,” the companies said in prepared remarks today. “The merger unites the 2 leading innovators in dental, each with over 100 years of experience. Combined, Dentsply Sirona will have largest and strongest R&D platform with over 600 experienced scientists and engineers to foster the development of better, safer and faster dental care.”

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