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The offering could come in the first half of
2014 and raise more than $1 billion, the people said, asking not
to be identified because the matter is not public.
Biomet's owners -- Blackstone Group LP <BX.N>, Goldman Sachs
Group Inc's <GS.N> private equity arm, KKR & Co LP <KKR.N> and
TPG Capital LP -- have selected Bank of America Merrill Lynch <BAC.N>,
Goldman Sachs Group <GS.N> and JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> to
lead the IPO, the people said.
Blackstone and Biomet did not immediately respond to requests
for comment. Representatives for TPG, KKR and the banks declined
to comment.
Founded in 1977, and based in Warsaw, Indiana, Biomet designs,
manufacturers and markets products that include dental implants
and artificial hips joints. Biomet competes with Smith & Nephew
PLC and Stryker Corp <SYK.N>.
Biomet's buyout was done at the top of the market. But since
then the medical device industry was hit during the financial
crisis as patients delayed surgery and joint replacements.
Pricing pressure for hip and knee replacements has also impacted
the sector.
Biomet is one of the few remaining large companies taken over by
private equity firms during the buyout boom that has not yet
gone public.
Other large private equity-owned companies that have gone public
in the past 12 months include hotel chain Hilton Worldwide
Holdings Inc <HLT.N>, oil and gas company Antero Resources Corp
<AR.N> and industrials supply company HD Supply Holdings Inc <HDS.O>.
Biomet's sales topped $3 billion in the fiscal year ended May
31, 2013, up 8 percent from the previous year. Adjusted net
income was $368 million, up 46 percent over the same period.
(Reporting by Olivia Oran and
Soyoung Kim in New York; Additional reporting by Greg
Roumeliotis in Berlin; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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