Boston Scientific raises Guidant bid to $25B

Boston Scientific raised its offer for Guidant to $25 billion as the bidding war between the company and Johnson & Johnson intensifies. Boston Scientific also said it has reached an agreement with Abbott Labs which would see the drug company pick up Guidant's vascular intervention business for about $4 billion. Analysts say the sale is necessary to satisfy antitrust regulators. Boston Scientific already has a strong stent business in its drug coated Taxus line, which had worldwide sales of $2.6 billion last year. The offer appears to put an end to J&J's bid for the company. J&J is Boston Scientific's major competitor in the stent market and is roughly 10 times its size overall. Assuming the deal goes through, Abbott would get Boston Scientific's vascular and endovascular device units, giving the company the leading position in the bare metal stent market.

- see this article [1] from The New York Times
- read this article [2] from The Chicago Tribune on the impact on Abbott

PLUS: Adding to the buzz on Wall Street, this morning Boston Scientific issued guidance for 2006, warning that sales may not match analyst expectations. Article [3]