Smith & Nephew chairman Rupert Soames fires back at investors’ calls for a breakup

Challenging: Rupert Soames, chairman of Smith & Nephew, stressed the medical technology group has a ‘well-formed’ strategy

The chairman of Smith & Nephew has defended his strategy as pressure mounted from major investors calling for a break-up of the company.

Rupert Soames’ stance comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed that the medical technology group’s shareholders have put CEO Deepak Nath on notice to improve his fortunes or be ousted.

Smith & Nephew consists of three divisions: sports medicine, wound care and orthopedics – which makes knee and hip replacements and is considered ripe for a spin-off.

But Soames told the FT yesterday: ‘We have a well-articulated strategy and plan that we are diligently executing – it spans all three of our business areas.’

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