The Medical Device Business Journal — Medical Device News & Articles | MassDevice
Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. (NYSE:IMA) closed a $36.4 million follow-on offer for more shares of Standard Diagnostics (KDQ:066930), taking its total stake in the Korean diagnostics firm to about 75 percent.
The Waltham, Mass.-based diagnostics and lab equipment maker has spent about $202.7 million acquiring its share of SD, which posted adjusted revenues of about $58.4 million and pre-tax income of roughly $24.4 million last year, according to a regulatory filing.
Orthopaedic Synergy Inc. signed a letter of intent to acquire Praxim SA of France, which makes robotic and computer-assisted surgery devices.
The Taunton, Mass.-based firm, which is the holding company for OMNIlife Science Inc. and Enztec Ltd. of New Zealand, said the deal is aimed at generating shorter product development cycles, according to a press release.
Praxim makes automated systems, software and instruments for total joint arthroplasty procedures. Based in Grenoble, France, the comany also has operations in Santa Clara, Calif., Bethlehem, Pa., Solihull, England, and in the Benelux region, according to its website.
Orthofix International NV (NSDQ:OFIX) sold its vascular compression products business to Covidien (NYSE:COV) in a deal it said should yield about $19 million Orthofix will use to pay down its debt.
The Dutch firm, which maintains its U.S. headquarters in Boston, said the deal includes its AV-Impulse mechanical compression technology and is aimed at focusing on "strategic market segments that represent long term growth potential," CEO Alan Milinazzo said in prepared remarks.
Amid reports that it’s a major player in the $6 billion Millipore Corp. (NYSE:MIL) sweepstakes, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) finished up a slightly smaller deal by closing its acquisition of Ahura Scientific.
The Waltham, Mass.-based lab equipment and services provider said in January that it had agreed to acquire Ahura for $145 million in cash plus a possible earn-out payment if Ahura meets certain 2010 financial targets. Ahura makes portable chemical detection devices designed for use outside of the lab.
The “For Sale” sign officially went up outside Millipore Corp. (NYSE:MIL).
Responding to speculation that it’s the target of a $6 billion buyout offer, executives at the Billerica, Mass.-based maker of bioscience equipment late Feb. 23 confirmed they hired Goldman Sachs to assist them in “evaluating strategic alternatives, including pursuing a process with potential bidders to explore a possible merger or sale of the company.”
Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. (NYSE:IMA) launched another tender offer for Standard Diagnostics (KDQ:066930), looking to add to the 61.9 percent stake it already holds in the Korean firm.
Earlier this month the Waltham, Mass.-based diagnostics and lab equipment maker closed its second tender offer for Standard Diagnostics shares, which saw it bid about $35.72 per share for 75.79 percent or just more than 6 million shares of the company.
Amicas Inc. (NSDQ:AMCS) and Merge Healthcare Inc. (NSDQ:MRGE) are fighting a war of words over Merge’s unsolicited offer to buy out the Boston-based imaging data management firm, which hopes instead to consummate a deal it already has with Thoma Bravo LLC.
Yesterday, Amicas called the Merge offer of $6.05 per share, or about $248 million, "risky" and "illusory," despite being a roughly 13 percent premium over the private equity firm’s ofer opf $5.35 per share (about $217 million).
Millipore Corp. (NYSE:MIL) shares soared as much as 43 percent today after news reports that Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) is considering a $6 billion unsolicited bid for the Billerica, Mass.-based company.
Bloomberg News, citing a person familiar with the situation, said Millipore recently hired Goldman Sachs as its financial adviser after receiving the bid and that a deal could be agreed on as early as next week. The news service said the person did not want to be identified because the talks are not yet public.
By Mary Vanac
ATHENS, Ohio — San Diego diagnostic test maker Quidel Corp. (NSDQ:QDEL) closed its acquisition of Diagnostic Hybrids Inc. for about $130 million in cash.
NeuroTherm Inc. added to its portfolio of pain management technologies with the acquisition of some of a European company’s needle lines.
The Wilmington, Mass.-based medical device maker paid an undisclosed amount for Dutch firm Technomed Europe’s intellectual property and manufacturing know-how "associated with certain needle product lines," according to a press release.
NeuroTherm bought Micron Catheter last summer for an undisclosed amount, adding the Palm Beach gardens, Fla.-based company’s epidural scar removal catheter to its holdings.
Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. (NYSE:IMA) agreed to pay $110 million in cash for Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. (NYSE: MMC) subsidiary Kroll Inc.’s substance abuse testing lab.
It’s the latest in a series of strategic moves for the Waltham, Mass.-based diagnostics and lab equipment maker, which has been on a buying (and selling) spree so far this year.
