Boston Scientific said yesterday it expects to be in a position to sign a definitive agreement to acquire cardiovascular device maker Guidant by mid-month.
The company also said its president and chief executive Jim Tobin would remain at the helm for "several more years".
The announcement comes as the medical device maker battles arch-rival Johnson & Johnson to acquire Guidant, the world's second-largest maker of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).
All three companies have significant operations in Ireland.
Last month, Boston Scientific surprised the market with a $25 billion (€20.5 billion) cash-and-stock bid for Guidant, topping J&J's $21.5 billion offer. J&J originally offered $25.4 billion, but cut its bid after safety concerns and litigation over recalls of Guidant's ICDs came to light.
Winning Guidant would provide an entry into the lucrative and fast-growing ICD market, which is dominated by Medtronic, St Jude Medical and Guidant.
A Boston Scientific spokesman said the company had its financing in place, continued to get new financing commitments and expected to maintain its investment-grade debt ratings.
Guidant shareholders will vote on January 31st on whether to approve J&J's proposed takeover.
Prior to Boston Scientific's surprise bid for Guidant, there had been speculation that Mr Tobin (61) would soon retire as he transferred various responsibilities to chief financial officer Paul LaViolette.
Mr Tobin, who previously served as president and chief executive of Biogen, joined Boston Scientific in March 1999, when the company was suffering from a wave of product recalls, accounting problems in Japan, and a US justice department investigation.
Boston Scientific, a maker of a broad range of medical devices, prospered under Mr Tobin's leadership, largely due to the runaway success of its drug-eluting stent system, Taxus, launched in 2002.
J&J is the only other company approved to sell drug-eluting stents - tiny wire mesh tubular devices that prop open diseased coronary arteries - in the United States. Today, Taxus generates more than 40 per cent of Boston Scientific's revenue.
