A Medical Device Daily

Getinge (Stockholm, Sweden) reported that it completed its previously disclosed tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Datascope (Montvale, New Jersey) at a price of $53 per share in cash, or about $865 million, after the FTC cleared the deal on Friday (Medical Device Daily, Sept. 17, 2008)

Under the FTC consent order, the combined company was be required to divest Datascope's endoscopic vessel harvesting (EVH) product line. As previously reported, Datascope had entered into an agreement to sell its endoscopic vessel harvesting product line to Sorin Group (Milan, Italy) pending the closing of the acquisition of Datascope by Getinge (MDD, Dec. 1, 2008). The vessel harvesting product line will, upon closing of the transaction, be integrated into Sorin Group's Cardiopulmonary Business Unit, it said.

"Getinge's acquisition of Datascope would give the company a near-monopoly share of the market for endoscopic vessel harvesting devices used in coronary bypass surgeries," said David Wales, acting director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. "The FTC's order will ensure that competition continues in this important healthcare market, and that consumers are not faced with higher prices or less innovation as a result of the transaction."

EVH devices are used in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery to remove a vein from the patient's leg or arm for use as a conduit to bypass one or more blocked coronary arteries.

After the initial offering period for the tender offer expired on Jan. 29, about 96% of the outstanding shares of Datascope common stock had been validly tendered and not withdrawn. Immediately following its acceptance of the tendered shares, Getinge acquired all of the remaining Datascope shares by means of a short-form merger under Delaware law at the same price per share paid in the tender offer. Upon completion of the merger, Datascope became an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Getinge and will no longer be traded on the Nasdaq.

Getinge said it wants to build its cardiovascular division into a "world leading business" focused on cardiac surgery, vascular intervention and cardiac assist. The company said the acquisition of Datascope is "an important step in this direction" and represents a strong addition to its product portfolio as well as its sales organization. Getinge also has said that Datascope has a "robust product pipeline with multiple near-term product launches."