When the rumors about Stryker Corp. making a play for Boston Scientific Corp. first emerged on June 11, the reaction was of unified surprise. The report, by the Wall Street Journal citing sources close to the matter, led to Boston Scientific's share value jumping 17% during intraday trading and Stryker's shares dipping slightly, while market spectators tried to figure out if a possible merger between the industry's No. 9 (Stryker, its ranking in the MTI 100 league table) and No. 11 (Boston Scientific) could actually work.
Based on their respective 2017 full-year revenue, a merger between Stryker and Boston Scientific will result in a company with...