Boston Scientific Corp agrees to buy rival BTG Corp for $4.2bn

Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific Corp today announced its plans to purchase UK drug group BTG Plc for US$4.2bn. Analysts expressed surprise at Boston Scientific’s payment of $10.51 per share: effectively a 37% premium in comparison with BTG’s Monday closing price. In response, the company’s shares fell to a three-year low. Bloomberg reports that “Jefferies health-care strategist Jared Holz called it a ‘strange’ move by the company”.

However, Boston Scientific is confident that the acquisition will dramatically bolster its capabilities in the field of interventional medicine. BTG is a leading manufacturer of stents (devices that hold open damaged blood vessels), snakebite antidote, and “cryoablation products to freeze and destroy diseased cells and radiotherapy that delivers radiation straight to tumors”, according to Bloomberg.  

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According to the company: “Healthcare is constantly evolving – so BTG never stands still. Inspired by a deep understanding of our customers’ needs, we’re working to meaningfully improve the lives if patients and their healthcare experience”.

"The acquisition of BTG and its rapidly growing peripheral interventional portfolio is an exciting extension of our category leadership strategy that will augment our capabilities in important areas of unmet need such as cancer and pulmonary embolism," said Mike Mahoney, chairman and CEO of Boston Scientific. "We are confident that the addition of these therapies to our portfolio will ultimately advance patient care in ways that could not be realized by either company alone, while also allowing us to realize substantial revenue and cost synergies and provide a strong return for investors."