CONMED CORPORATION
Forward Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2011 (“Form 10-K”) contains certain forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) and information relating to CONMED Corporation (“CONMED”, the “Company”, “we” or “us” — references to “CONMED”, the “Company”, “we” or “us” shall be deemed to include our direct and indirect subsidiaries unless the context otherwise requires) which are based on the beliefs of our management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to our management.
When used in this Form 10-K, the words “estimate,” “project,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those identified under the caption “Item 1A-Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following:
See “Item 7-Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, “Item 1-Business” and “Item 1A-Risk Factors” for a further discussion of these factors. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Form 10-K or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
General
CONMED Corporation was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York in 1970 by Eugene R. Corasanti, the Company’s founder and Chairman of the Board. CONMED is a medical technology company with an emphasis on surgical devices and equipment for minimally invasive procedures and monitoring. The Company’s products serve the clinical areas of arthroscopy, powered surgical instruments, electrosurgery, cardiac monitoring disposables, endosurgery and endoscopic technologies. They are used by surgeons and physicians in a variety of specialties including orthopedics, general surgery, gynecology, neurosurgery, and gastroenterology. Headquartered in Utica, New York, the Company’s 3,400 employees distribute its products worldwide from several manufacturing locations. See Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion of our reporting segments and financial information about geographic areas.
We have historically used strategic business acquisitions and exclusive distribution relationships to diversify our product offerings, increase our market share in certain product lines, realize economies of scale and take advantage of growth opportunities in the healthcare field.
We are committed to offering products with the highest standards of quality, technological excellence and customer service. Substantially all of our facilities have attained certification under the ISO international quality standards and other domestic and international quality accreditations.
Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports are accessible free of charge through the Investor Relations section of our website (http://www.conmed.com) as soon as practicable after such materials have been electronically filed with, or furnished to, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Industry
Market growth for our products is primarily driven by:
In the United States, the pressure on health care providers to contain costs has caused many health care providers to enter into comprehensive purchasing contracts with fewer suppliers, which offer a broader array of products at lower prices. In addition, many health care providers have aligned themselves with Group Purchasing Organizations (“GPOs”) or Integrated Health Networks (“IHNs”), whose stated purpose is to aggregate the purchasing volume of their members in order to negotiate competitive pricing with suppliers, including manufacturers of surgical products. We believe that these trends will favor entities which offer a diverse product portfolio. See “—Business Strategy”.