UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 25, 2013

MAKO Surgical Corp.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

2555 Davie Road

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33317

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (954) 927-2044

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☒  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 1.01      Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On September 25, 2013, MAKO Surgical Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Stryker Corporation, a Michigan corporation (“Stryker”), and Lauderdale Merger Corporation, a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Stryker (“Merger Sub”).

The Merger Agreement provides, among other things and subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, that Merger Sub will be merged with and into the Company (the “Merger”), with the Company continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Stryker, and that, at the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), each share of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the Company outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (other than dissenting shares and shares owned by the Company, Stryker or Merger Sub or any of their subsidiaries) will be automatically converted into the right to receive $30 in cash, without interest (the “Merger Consideration”).

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, as of the Effective Time, (1) each option to purchase a share of the Company’s common stock that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time will become fully vested and be converted into the right to receive a cash payment equal to the Merger Consideration, net of the exercise price, and (2) each award of restricted shares of the Company’s common stock that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time will become fully vested and be converted into the right to receive a cash payment equal to the product of the Merger Consideration and the number of shares subject to the award.

The Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) has unanimously approved the Merger Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated thereby. The closing of the Merger is subject to the adoption of the Merger Agreement by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock entitled to vote (the “Company Stockholder Approval”). The closing of the Merger is also subject to various customary conditions, including the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended; the absence of any newly enacted law, injunction or order prohibiting the Merger; the accuracy of the representations and warranties contained in the Merger Agreement (generally subject to a material adverse effect qualification); compliance with the covenants and agreements in the Merger Agreement in all material respects; and, until August 31, 2014, the absence of certain pending actions by governmental entities against the parties to the Merger Agreement or their subsidiaries. The closing of the Merger is not subject to a financing condition.

The Company has made customary representations, warranties and covenants in the Merger Agreement, including, among others, covenants (1) to conduct its business in the ordinary course during the period between the execution of the Merger Agreement and the closing of the Merger, (2) not to engage in specified types of transactions during this period unless agreed to in writing by Stryker, (3) to convene and hold a meeting of its stockholders for the purpose of obtaining the Company Stockholder Approval and (4) subject to certain exceptions, not to withdraw, modify or qualify in a manner adverse to Stryker or Merger Sub the recommendation of the Board of the Company that the Company’s stockholders approve the adoption of the Merger Agreement.

The Merger Agreement contains certain termination rights, including the right of the Company to terminate the Merger Agreement to accept an unsolicited superior proposal from a third party. The Merger Agreement provides that, upon termination of the Merger Agreement by the Company or Stryker under specified circumstances (including termination by the Company to accept a superior proposal), a termination fee of $61 million will be payable by the Company to Stryker. The Company termination fee is also payable under certain other limited circumstances, including if Stryker terminates the Merger Agreement due to the Board’s change of recommendation in favor of the Merger or the Company’s failure to include the Board’s recommendation in favor of the Merger in the proxy statement. In addition, subject to certain exceptions and limitations, either party may terminate the Merger Agreement if the Merger is not consummated by September 30, 2014.

The foregoing description of the Merger Amendment does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Merger Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 2.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference.

The Merger Agreement has been included to provide investors with information regarding its terms. It is not intended to provide any other factual information about the Company. The representations, warranties and covenants contained in the Merger Agreement were made only for purposes of the Merger Agreement as of the specific dates therein, were solely for the benefit of the parties to the Merger Agreement, may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the contracting parties, including being qualified by confidential disclosures made for the purposes of allocating contractual risk among the parties to the Merger Agreement instead of establishing these matters as facts, and may be subject to standards of materiality applicable to the contracting parties that differ from those applicable to investors. Investors are not third-party beneficiaries under the Merger Agreement and should not rely on the representations, warranties and covenants or any descriptions thereof as characterizations of the actual state of facts or condition of the parties thereto or any of their respective subsidiaries or affiliates. Moreover, information concerning the subject matter of representations and warranties may change after the date of the Merger Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in the Company’s public disclosures.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed transaction, the Company will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and mail or otherwise provide to its shareholders a proxy statement regarding the proposed transaction. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, THE COMPANY’S SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED MERGER OR INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE THEREIN BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND THE PARTIES TO THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the proxy statement and other documents that the Company files with the SEC (when available) from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Company’s website at www.makosurgical.com. In addition, the proxy statement and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC (when available) may be obtained from the Company free of charge by directing a request to MAKO Surgical Corp., Investor Relations Department, 2555 Davie Road, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33317, 954-628-1706.

The Company and its directors, executive officers and employees may be deemed, under SEC rules, to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Company’s shareholders with respect to the proposed acquisition of the Company by Stryker. Security holders may obtain information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of such individuals in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, and its definitive proxy statement for the 2013 annual meeting of shareholders. Additional information regarding the interests of such individuals in the proposed acquisition of the Company by Stryker will be included in the proxy statement relating to such acquisition when it is filed with the SEC. These documents may be obtained free of charge from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Company’s website at www.makosurgical.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements about the expected timing, completion and effects of the proposed transaction and all other statements in this report and the exhibits furnished or filed herewith, other than historical facts, constitute forward-looking statements, which may concern, among other things, statements related to expectations, goals, plans, objectives and future events. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "outlook," "guidance" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. The forward-looking information and statements are or may be based on a series of projections and estimates and involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include such factors as: (1) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement, (2) the failure to obtain the approval of the Company’s stockholders or the failure to satisfy any of the other closing conditions, (3) risks related to disruption of management’s attention from the Company’s ongoing business operations due to the transaction and (4) the effect of the announcement of the transaction on the ability of the Company to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with its customers, suppliers and others with whom it does business, or on its operating results and business generally. Additional risks are described under Item 1A, "Risk Factors," in the Company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 filed on February 28, 2013. Given these uncertainties, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release any revisions to these forward-looking statements publicly to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Item 9.01      Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d)  Exhibits

†Schedules have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. The Company hereby undertakes to furnish supplementally copies of any of the omitted schedules upon request by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

EXHIBIT INDEX

†Schedules have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. The Company hereby undertakes to furnish supplementally copies of any of the omitted schedules upon request by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.