Paulson & Co. ponied up big bucks last quarter to buy a major stake in one of the biggest players in healthcare data, while holding steady as Boston Scientific Corp.’s (NYSE: BSX) largest institutional shareholder, according to filings with the federal Securities & Exchange Commission.
The New York-based investment fund run by John Paulson unveiled an 18 million share stake in Norwalk, Conn.-based IMS Health Inc. (NYSE:RX), which provides data on pharmaceutical markets and doctors’ prescribing habits to most of the pharma industry’s biggest players. The Paulson buy-in is good for about 9.87 percent of IMS and is valued at about $395 million, according to IMS’s opening price today.
Paulson & Co. did not reveal any major changes in its holdings of BSX, of which the fund owns more than 99 million shares, good for a 6.6 percent stake in the Natick, Mass.-based medical devices giant, according to a quarterly filing with the SEC.
Overall in 2009, Paulson & Co. increased its stake in BSX by about 15 million shares.