Abbott is buying St.Jude Medical Further Consolidating the Medical Device Sector

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), a $20.4b maker of diagnostics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and nutritionals, has agreed to buy St. Jude Medical Inc. (NASDAQ:STJ), a major maker of devices for cardiac rhythm management, cardiovascular, and atrial fibrillation. St. Jude Medical's strong positions in heart failure devices, atrial fibrillation and cardiac rhythm management complement Abbott's leading positions in coronary intervention and transcatheter mitral repair. With combined annual sales of ~$8.7b, Abbott's and St. Jude's cardiovascular business l will hold the No. 1 or 2 positions across large and high-growth cardiovascular device markets and will compete in nearly every area of the market. The combined company will also have a robust pipeline of new medical device products across cardiovascular, diabetes, vision and neuromodulation patient care. The deal is the largest in the latest lurry of health-care deal-making. Recently,  Sanofi SA said t made an unsolicited, $9.3b Medivation Inc., (prostate-cancer drugs). AbbVie Inc.  agreed to pay $5.8b, plus up to an additional $4b in potential future payments, to acquire cancer-treatment developer Stemcentrx Inc. continuing AbbVie’s aggressive push to build an oncology business. Deal terms -- $25b on revenue of $5.54b (4.6x)and EBITDA of $1.6b. (15.6x).