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Abbott to table $25bn bid for medical device maker St Jude?

pharmafile | August 27, 2015 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing |  Abbott Laboratories, mergers and acquisitions, st jude medical 

Abbott Laboratories is said to be preparing a $25 billion takeover bid for medical device maker St Jude Medical. 

Illinois-based Abbott has been advised by JPMorgan and Citi for several weeks, and preparing financing for a cash and shares offer, say sources familiar with the matter, though at this point, a bid has not yet been made. An Abbott spokesman has denied that the company intends to, while St Jude has yet to comment on the possibility.

Minnesota-based St Jude and Abbott-headquartered in Illinois- already collaborate on cardiovascular devices, and sell their portfolio of products jointly to hospitals and other healthcare providers. It is thought a full merger would be a logical step that would afford the larger company greater leverage in negotiations with buyers.

The anticipated bid comes in a period of frantic merger and acquisitions activity in the pharma sector that has totalled more than $400 billion already in 2015 to-date. St Jude Medical itself recently agreed to acquire fellow medical-device manufacturer Thoratec for about $3.4bn. St Jude has a market capitalisation of about $19bn.

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It is assumed Abbott considered a move for St Jude earlier this year, but waited for the outcome of Teva’s pursuit of Mylan, in which Abbott holds a 15% stake. Teva ultimately gave up on the acquisition in July, yet Abbott is clearly still confident it can fund the St Jude deal.

Joel Levy

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