• 3M Health Care (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported a licensing agreement with ClozeX Medical (Wellesley, Massachusetts), a provider of skin closure devices to treat lacerations and close surgical incisions. The agreement gives 3M exclusive worldwide rights for the manufacturing and distribution of ClozeX Wound Closures. ClozeX Wound Closures are used in a variety of surgeries, including plastic and reconstruction, cardiothoracic, vascular, ob/gyn, general surgery and orthopedics.

• C. R. Bard (Murray Hill, New Jersey) reported completing its previously disclosed acquisition of Venetec International (San Diego, California) for $166 million. Venetec’s StatLock line of catheter securement products now will be marketed by Bard’s Medical division (Covington, Georgia). C. R. Bard provides technology for vascular, urology, oncology and surgical specialties.

• Technology and tools manufacturer Danaher (Washington) and Sybron Dental Specialties (Newport Beach, California) reported an agreement in which Danaher will make a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Sybron Dental for $47 a share, for a deal value of about $2 billion, plus a second-step cash-out merger at the offer price. Danaher expects to assume about $200 million of debt in connection with the acquisition. The board of Sybron Dental has unanimously recommended that the shareholders of Sybron accept the offer. Danaher anticipates completing the offer in 2Q06.

• dj Orthopedics (San Diego) reported closing its acquisition of Aircast (Summit, New Jersey). In the deal – first unveiled in February – dj Orthopedics acquired Aircast from its shareholders, including majority owner Tailwind Capital, for about $290 million in cash. Antitrust review of the deal was completed in early April. dj said some of Aircast’s administrative functions now will be moved from its New Jersey headquarters to dj Orthopedics’ California headquarters to generate domestic operating synergies.

• Fresenius Medical Care (Bad Homburg, Germany) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Fresenius Medical Care Holdings (Lexington, Massachusetts), reported the closing of the $3.5 billion acquisition of Renal Care Group (Nashville, Tennessee). The closing, first disclosed last May, follows the completion of the FTC’s review of the acquisition and the issuance of a consent order to permit the closing of the acquisition. To finance the buy, Fresenius said it has entered into and drawn upon a replacement $4.6 billion senior credit facility.

• Medical Creative Technologies (Telford, Pennsylvania) completed the purchase of the intellectual property of Dexterity Surgical (Houston), including manufacturing and distribution rights for certain medical devices, including the Dexterity Protractor and Dexterity PneumoSleeve. Terms were not disclosed. The Protractor is a wound retractor/protector device used in open surgical procedures; the PneumoSleeve is a device invented to perform the Hand Assisted Laparoscopic (HAL) technique, a hybrid approach to difficult, least invasive surgery.

• Merit Medical Systems (South Jordan, Utah) reported completing an asset acquisition, with cash, of a hemostasis valve from Millimed (Roskilde, Denmark). Merit said that the agreement calls for transfer and startup requirements, with a maximum payment of $1.5 million. The product will be manufactured in Merit’s Galway, Ireland, facility.

• Moog (East Aurora, New York) reported completing the acquisition, first unveiled in February, of the assets of infusion pump maker Curlin Medical (Huntington Beach, California), plus the net assets of two affiliated companies. Moog paid $75 million for the acquisition, $63 million in cash and $12 million in the form of a 53-week note. Curlin’s products are distributed in North America by B. Braun Medical (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). Moog said it expects to continue this relationship and will expand it.

• Nuance Communications (Burlington, Massachusetts), a provider of speech and imaging solutions, reported that it has closed its $359 million acquisition of Dictaphone (Stratford, Connecticut), a primary provider of dictation and speech recognition solutions for the healthcare industry. The company said this acquisition, first disclosed in February, accelerates its strategy to automate manual transcription in healthcare. Nuance also closed a senior secured debt facility, comprising a $355 million term loan and a $75 million revolving credit facility. Nuance also said that it has established the Dictaphone Healthcare Division. Rob Schwager, former CEO of Dictaphone, will assume the role of division president.

• SurModics (Eden Prairie, Minnesota), a provider of surface modification and drug delivery technologies, has acquired intellectual property covering biodegradable polymer technology from Intralytix (Baltimore) for an undisclosed sum. The intellectual property relates to polyester-amide (PEA) biodegradable polymers, which naturally degrade in the body into amino acid components.

• Zoll Medical (Chelmsford, Massachusetts), a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software, reported completing the purchase of the assets of Lifecor (Pittsburgh), a manufacturer of wearable external defibrillator systems. Zoll acquired Lifecor’s assets and business, assumed Lifecor’s outstanding debt of about $5.8 million (plus an additional $3 million owed to Zoll), and also assumed certain stated liabilities of around $1.5 million. Additional consideration will be in the form of earn-out payments to Lifecor based upon future revenue growth of the acquired business over a five-year period. Zoll will operate the Lifecor business through its Lifecor subsidiary.