Boston Scientific has entered the battle for medical devices group Guidant with a surprise $25 billion (€21.2 billion) offer.
Its offer is pitched below the original approach to Guidant from rival medical devices group Johnson & Johnson (J&J) but above a revised $21.5 billion deal agreed after a series of Guidant product recalls.
Speaking last night, Boston Scientific's chief operating officer Paul LaViolette said the company had been looking to enter the cardiac rhythm management market for some time and J&J's decision to lower its bid for Guidant had allowed it an opportunity which it had moved swiftly to exploit.
Boston Scientific's offer values each Guidant share at $72. It will pay $36 a share in cash with the balance in stock - a move that would see Guidant investors holding 35 per cent of the enlarged company if the deal succeeds. The deal is 14 per cent ahead of J&J's revised offer and 16 per cent above the level at which Guidant shares closed last Friday.
"To sum up, our proposal is better for Guidant, its shareholders and its employees than Johnson & Johsnon's revised offer," said Boston Scientific chief executive Jim Tobin.
Boston Scientific said the deal would give it access to the $10 billion market for implantable devices that help regulate heart beats - such as pacemakers and defibrillators - that were the main drivers of J&J's original $25.4 billion offer. Guidant acknowledged it had received a proposal from Boston Scientific and would consider it.
Mr LaViolette said any acquisition of Guidant would not impact adversely on either group's Irish operations. Boston Scientific employs close to 3,000 people in the State, while Guidant employs around 1,000 in Clonmel.
