Medtronic gains European, US, Canadian clearance for takeover of Covidien28 November 2014 Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) and Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) have announced that the European Commission has conditionally cleared Medtronic’s proposed acquisition of Covidien. The clearance decision is conditional on Medtronic’s commitment to divest Covidien’s drug coated balloon business. As previously announced, a subsidiary of Covidien entered into an agreement to divest Covidien’s drug coated balloon business to The Spectranetics Corporation, and the divestiture is expected to close shortly following completion of Medtronic’s acquisition of Covidien. The company's say that the transaction is expected to close in early 2015 after receipt of certain additional regulatory clearances, approvals by both companies’ shareholders and sanction by the High Court of Ireland. This follows clearance by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Canadian Competition Bureau on 26 Nov 2014, which were also conditional on the commitment to divest certain assets related to Covidien’s drug-coated balloon catheter product. Omar Ishrak, Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, said, “This regulatory clearance represents an important milestone in bringing our companies together. We continue to make good progress in planning for the integration of these two companies which will unite them under a single mission — to alleviate pain, restore health and extend life for patients with chronic disease around the world. When the transaction is complete, the combined company will allow Medtronic to reach more patients, in more ways and in more places.” Source: Medtronic & Covidien |
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