Abbott gets U.S. antitrust approval to buy St. Jude Medical
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Healthcare company Abbott Laboratories ABT.N has won U.S. antitrust approval for its proposed purchase of medical device maker St. Jude Medical Inc STJ.N, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday.
Abbott has agreed to divest two medical device businesses to settle FTC charges that the $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude would likely be anticompetitive, the FTC said in a statement.
Abbott has said the deal would help it compete against larger rivals Medtronic Plc MDT.N and Boston Scientific Corp BSX.N as hospitals look to cut the number of their suppliers.
The FTC said the parties are required to sell businesses for two devices used in cardiovascular treatments – St. Jude’s vascular closure device and Abbott’s steerable sheath – to Japan-based Terumo Corp 4543.T.
Representatives for Abbott and St. Jude were not immediately available for comment.
Abbott said in October that the companies would sell some of their medical device business to Terumo for about $1.12 billion as a step toward completing the deal.
European antitrust enforcers approved the merger in November if the companies divest the two devices used in cardiovascular treatments.
St. Jude has been under pressure after short-seller Muddy Waters and research firm MedSec Holdings said in August that its heart devices were riddled with defects that make them vulnerable to cyber hacks. St. Jude has denied the allegations and sued both firms.
In October, St. Jude said it had told doctors to stop implants of its Nanostim leadless cardiac pacemaker, citing reports of problems with electronic data reporting caused by a battery malfunction that could put patients at risk.
There have been no reports that any patient injuries resulted from the malfunction, St. Jude has said.
Abbott has been divesting businesses to focus on its cardiovascular devices and diagnostics business, selling its medical optics division to Johnson Johnson JNJ.N for $4.3 billion earlier this year. It spun off its pharmaceuticals business as AbbVie Inc ABBV.N in 2013.
Abbott is trying to pull out of a second deal, the $5.8 billion acquisition of diagnostic test maker Alere Inc ALR.N, which had failed to file financial statements and disclosed probes into billing and foreign sales practices.
The two companies are suing each other.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Additional reporting by Toni Clarke; Editing by Leslie Adler and Alan Crosby)