FTC puts conditions on acquisition of St Jude Medical

US healthcare company Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) has agreed to divest two medical device businesses to charges by the US Federal Trade Commission that its proposed $25 billion acquisition of St Jude Medical would likely be anticompetitive.

The FTC’s complaint alleges that without a remedy, the proposed acquisition would harm competition in the US markets for vascular closure devices, which are used to close holes in arteries from the insertion of catheters, and for “steerable” sheaths, which are used to guide catheters for treating heart arrhythmias.

Without a remedy, the merger will cause significant harm to competition in these two markets. Specifically: