Sweden’s Getinge Agrees to Buy Datascope

Sweden-based medical technology group Getinge has agreed to buy Datascope Corp., a maker of cardiovascular devices, for $865 million in cash.

Getinge said it would pay $53 per share, a premium of 34% compared to Datascope’s volume weighted trading price prior to its June 4 announcement it was seeking strategic alternatives for the company.

Adjusted for Datascope’s net cash position, the enterprise value of the deal was $618 million, it added.

“Datascope’s businesses meaningfully expand Getinge’s cardiovascular business worldwide, reinforcing the company’s focus on both cardiac surgery and vascular interventions,” Getinge said in a statement.

The Datascope board unanimously recommended the offer, it added. Datascope said in June it would explore strategic options, including a possible sale, and authorised Lehman Brothers to contact possible suitors.

The company said at the time it had received several buyout offers since the sale of its Patient Monitoring business to China’s Mindray Medical for about $240 million in May.

The Swedish company said it saw “significant synergies” from the acquisition which it expected to contribute to group earnings per share, after amortisation and financing costs related to the deal, starting in 2010.

Getinge would finance the transaction using a fully underwritten credit facility from Swedish bank SEB and would also carry out a new share issue of about 1.0 billion Swedish crowns ($147 million). The issue was guaranteed by Getinge’s main shareholder, it added.

SOURCE: Reuters