American Medical Systems Holdings (AMS; Minnetonka, Minnesota) reported completing its purchase of Ovion (Menlo Park, California), a company that has developed an office-based technology for the delivery of a permanent birth control solution for women. AMS purchased Ovion for $10 million plus milestones. Closing of the deal came over the efforts of Conceptus (San Carlos, California), a competitor in the permanent sterilization sector, to block it. Ovion, formerly privately held, is focused on commercializing a technology for the in-office delivery of a transcervical permanent birth control solution for women.

CAMP Healthcare (Jackson, Michigan), a maker of surgical supports and orthotic devices, ac- quired Seattle Systems (Poulsbo, Washington). CAMP's parent company, Trulife Group (Dublin, Ireland), purchased all stock of Seattle Systems through the wholly owned subsidiary. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.The purchase, Trulife said, will make it the third-largest manufacturer of prosthetics and orthotics in North America.

Medtronic (Minneapolis) reported completing its previously disclosed acquisition of Transneuronix (Mt. Arlington, New Jersey), a company focused on therapies designed to treat obesity by electrical stimulation of the stomach. The deal, valued at about $260 million, with the potential for additional milestone payments, was first reported in June. Transneuronix is focused on developing a therapy for obesity using its Transcend system, an implantable pacemaker-like device also known as a gastric pacemaker. The acquisition follows Medtronic's recent announcement regarding the formation of a new business unit, Medtronic Obesity Management. It described the Trans-neuronix purchase as the unit's first entry into the obesity sector. Transneuronix' Transcend system uses gastric electrical stimulation in treating obesity.

Extremities surgery company Nexa Orthopedics, a HealthPoint Capital (both New York) portfolio company, reported the acquisition of the StayFuse product line from Pioneer Surgical (Vista, California). The StayFuse is a product used to fuse the interphalangeal of the foot and hand. Fusion of the interphalangeal joints is a common procedure performed as a treatment for pain caused by arthritic changes to the joint or resulting from common hammertoe deformities.

Royal Philips Electronics (Best, the Netherlands) reported that it would acquire Stentor (Brisbane, California), a provider of picture archiving and communication systems (PACs), for about $280 million in cash. Oran Muduroglu, president of Stentor, said that with the acquisition by Philips, "We can now extend Stentor PACS outside of the radiology department and into other areas of the hospital where conditions like cancer and heart disease are treated." Stentor's shareholders have approved the transaction, with the purchase subject to regulatory approval.

Sybron Dental Specialties (Orange, California), a manufacturer of products for the dental profession including the specialty markets of endodontics, implantology, and orthodontics reported that its Ormco subsidiary acquired all of the stock of privately held Oraltronics Dental Implant Technology (Bremen, Germany), a company that manufactures dental implants. Sybron said the purchase was made using its existing cash and is expected to be accretive within the first year of operations.

TLC Vision (St. Louis) said it has acquired a majority interest in the assets of Kremer Laser Eye (King of Prussia, Pennsylvania), a refractive and cataract surgery business. The price for the 82% interest was $24.3 million in cash, plus the assumption of certain liabilities, subject to closing adjustments. Kremer Laser Eye's services include refractive, cataract and glaucoma surgery. After the transaction, TLC will have an 82% ownership in Kremer, with the remaining 18% interest to be retained by the four active Kremer surgeons who will remain with the business going forward: Michael Aronsky, MD; Carol Hoffman, MD; George Pronesti, MD; and Anthony Zacchei, MD. A.G. Edwards acted as financial advisor to TLC in connection with the transaction.

Valleylab (Boulder, Colorado), a division of Tyco Healthcare (Mansfield, Massachusetts), has acquired Vivant Medical (Mountain View, California), a developer of microwave ablation technology, for about $66 million in cash, at close. Up to another $35 million in milestones may be paid in the future. Vivant is developing what it calls "the anticipated first-to-market" microwave ablation technology, a minimally invasive procedure for treating various forms of cancer. The boards of both companies have approved the transaction.

Valley Forge Scientific (VFS; Oaks, Pennsylvania) and privately held Synergetics (St. Charles, Missouri) reported that Valley Forge has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for their pending merger, which is subject to various closing conditions including shareholder approvals. The deal, first disclosed in May, will involve Synergetics' shareholders receiving about 16 million shares of Valley Forge stock, with the former shareholders representing around 66% of Valley Forge's outstanding common stock.