FTC GRANTS ANTITRUST APPROVAL TO BOSTON SCIENTIFIC FOR GUIDANT DEAL

Boston Scientific has received antitrust approval from the Federal Trade Commission FTC for its proposed combination with Guidant, the company has announced.

The FTC approved an agreement containing consent orders Boston Scientific entered into with FTC staff April 5, and has granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

Boston Scientific is now free under both European Commission (EC) and U.S. antitrust laws to close the transaction with Guidant. The EC granted its antitrust approval for the combination of the two companies April 11.

Boston Scientific and Guidant shareholders each voted overwhelmingly to approve the combination at separate special meetings March 31. The companies intend to close the transaction April 21, they said. The consent agreement will protect competition and consumers in several significant medical device markets affected by the acquisition, including drug eluting stents with the rapid exchange delivery system, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty balloon catheters, coronary guidewires, and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, the FTC said.