Biomet Announces Investigation Results, Management Changes

After a special committee investigated Biomet's stock option grants from 1996 to the present, the company announced that the committee found "Biomet's public filings with regard to stock options were inaccurate."

The company's board of directors formed the committee after publication of an analyst report suggested certain grants of stock options by Biomet took place when the company's stock price was trading at relatively low prices, and after the filing of two shareholder derivative lawsuits alleging improper backdating of stock options.

The committee named several "deficiencies," including: The company's administration of its various stock option plans disregarded the terms of those plans; most of the options issued from 1996 to 2006 were not priced at the fair market value on the date of their respective grants; and there was opportunistic misdating and mispricing of options in order to take advantage of lower exercise prices.

Biomet also said its senior vice president of finance and executive vice president of administration retired from the company but will serve as consultants.