Medical devices maker S&N to name Nawana as new chief

The FTSE-100 medical devices group Smith & Nephew (Frankfurt: 502816 - news) (S&N) will this week end its six-month search for a new boss by naming a former Alere (NYSE: ALR - news) executive to the role.

Sky News has learnt that S&N will announce on Wednesday that Namal Nawana will join the global leader in orthopaedics reconstruction in the coming months.

Mr Nawana, a 46-year-old Australian citizen, will replace Olivier Bohuon, who told the medical technology group's board last October that he intended to step down this year.

The new chief executive will bring a strong pedigree in S&N's global markets to his new role, having helped to rescue Alere following the ousting of its founder and former boss in 2014.

Mr Nawana then steered the company through a reorientation as a leading diagnostics business which was subsequently acquired by Abbott Laboratories (Xetra: 850103 - news) for more than $5bn.

Prior to Alere, Mr Nawana held senior roles at DePuy, one of S&N's biggest rivals.

In addition to orthopaedic reconstruction, which makes hip and knee implants, S&N also has a big presence in areas of healthcare such as advanced wound management, sports medicine.

Employing roughly 15,000 people globally, the company is also listed in New York.

The search for Mr Bohuon's successor was led by Roberto Quarta, S&N's chairman, who also chairs WPP Group, the world's biggest provider of marketing services.

Mr Nawana's arrival will come at an important time for S&N, which has been regarded as a perennial takeover target for the likes of American rivals Stryker (Swiss: SYK.SW - news) and ‎Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ - news) .

The British-based S&N has attracted the interest of activist investor Elliott Advisors in the last six months, reportedly leading it to urge the company to dispose of several divisions.

During Mr Bohuon's seven-year tenure at the helm, ‎S&N's shares have nearly doubled, while outperforming the FTSE-100 index by more than 50%.

The company has a market capitalisation in London of just over £11.6bn.

A spokeswoman for S&N declined to comment on Tuesday evening.