Minnesota-based medical device company St. Jude Medical, Inc. announced that it is in the process of acquiring Thoratec Corp., the leading manufacturer of a promising heart implant, for $3.4 billion.
While the two companies have yet to finalize the sale, reports say that St. Jude's offer to Thoratec is valued at $63.50 per share, which is around 10 percent of the premium closing price of the heart pump maker on Tuesday and around 35.4 percent of the premium of its closing price last Friday.
Analysts believe St. Jude's decision to buy Thoratec is a bold move, dependent on the heart pump maker's ability to remain dominant in a relatively young market where newer and more advanced medical devices could be developed in a few years' time.
St. Jude has also been known to avoid making such large acquisitions. If it goes through, the purchase of Thoratec would become St. Jude's single largest deal — potentially even exceeding the company's acquisition of Advanced Neuromodulation Systems back in 2005, at an estimated $1.25 billion.
The move is part of St. Jude's plans to expand its medical devices portfolio for treating heart failure, which affects around six million Americans. The company has made the heart condition a vital part of its strategy for growth. Its current heart failure products include a system for the remote monitoring of patients and an advanced pacemaker that helps improve the pumping function of the heart.
The medical devices company has said that Thoratec is a leading figure in the international heart devices market, with the ability to reach sales of over $1 billion in 2016. St. Jude added that the heart pump maker also has the potential to grow 10 percent annually.
St. Jude Medical CEO Daniel Starks said that heart failure continues to provide major growth opportunity for the company where it can provide help for many patients and shareholders.
St. Jude expects to finalize the deal with Thoratec by the fourth quarter of this year, though other device manufacturers could still make their own offers.
St. Jude's deal features a "go-shop" period of 30 days, in which Thoratec can look for other offers from rival device makers. Potential suitors for the heart pump maker include Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic, according to analysts.
Photo: James Jorda | Flickr
