Smith & Nephew chairman Rupert Soames fires again at investor requires break-up

Defiant: Smith & Nephew’s chairman Rupert Soames insisted that the medical technology group has a ‘well-formed’ strategy 

Smith & Nephew’s chairman has defended its strategy as pressure from major investors calling for a break-up of the company intensified.

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

Smith & Nephew is made up of three divisions: sports medicine, wound management and orthopaedics – which makes knee and hip replacements and is thought to be ripe for a spin-off. 

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