Carl Zeiss Meditec AG reported it plans to buy Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center BV (DORC) from investment firm Eurazeo SE for approximately €985 million (US$1.08 billion).
Zimvie Inc. will sell its spine business to private equity investor H.I.G. Capital for $375 million, a move that should clean up its balance sheet and allow it to focus on the more profitable dental business. The deal is structured as $315 million in cash plus a promissory note for $60 million with an interest rate of 10%, compounded semi-annually.
South Korean artificial intelligence software developer Lunit Inc. plans to acquire Volpara Health Technologies Ltd. for $193 million (AUD 292 million) by mid-2024, taking a global leap to the U.S. market and becoming an AI-based platform health care firm.
Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp. agreed to acquire Acclarent Inc. from Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc. subsidiary for $275 million in cash at closing with a further $5 million contingent on achievement of certain regulatory milestones.
Kaneka Corp. has acquired Japan Medical Device Technology Co. Ltd. (JMDT), to expand its reach in the coronary stent business segment. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Freenome Inc. has acquired U.K.-based immunodiagnostics developer Oncimmune Ltd. for £13 million (US$16 million), in a move that bolsters Freenome’s frontline early cancer detection efforts. While Freenome has been largely focused on getting the U.S. FDA’s nod for its colorectal cancer test, Oncimmune already has a CE-IVD marked EarlyCDT Lung blood test, an autoantibody platform and an R&D pipeline of over seven cancer detection signals.
Detection Technology plc has agreed to acquire X-ray flat panel detector provider Shanghai Haobo Imaging Technology Co. Ltd. to expand in the thin-film transistor (TFT) flat panel detector market. Shanghai-based Haobo Imaging was valued at around €14 million (US$15 million). Finland-based Detection Technology will acquire a 90% stake in the Chinese company while Haobo Imaging’s founder and management will maintain 10% of the shares.
From Carl Icahn’s point of view, Illumina Inc.’s desired reintegration of its former spinoff is more a poisoned chalice than a holy Grail. In his opening salvo to a proxy fight, Icahn published an open letter March 13 to other Illumina shareholders referencing the “extreme displeasure” of investors with Illumina’s “reckless” determination to acquire Grail Inc., despite European regulators’ strong opposition to the deal.
Bayer AG acquired Blackford Analysis Ltd., a British developer of artificial intelligence systems that help make diagnoses using medical images in the U.K. and U.S. The companies did not disclose any financial details. “This deal is part of our strategy to drive innovation in radiology, including the development and adoption of AI within the workflow, with the goal of ultimately improving patient care and advance our position in digital medical imaging,” Stefan Oelrich, a board member at Bayer AG and president of Bayer’s pharmaceutical division, told BioWorld.
Abbott Laboratories reported its plans to acquire Cardiovascular Systems Inc., (CSI), makers of an orbital atherectomy system, and will pay shareholders of CSI $20 per share. Analysts see the acquisition as a smart move for Abbott even though the purchase price represents a 50%-plus premium over the Feb. 8 closing price of $13.31, but the companies did not provide a date by which the transaction will close.
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