J&J may abandon Guidant deal

Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson announced that it may not complete its $23.4 billion purchase of Guidant, saying the company's recent problems have had an "adverse impact" on its value and that its negotiations with Guidant have not been productive. The news came on the same day that the FTC announced its approval for the original deal. A complete abandonment of the transaction would be something of a surprise; many analysts had speculated that J&J wanted to renegotiate its price.

- see this article from the Associated Press