Johnson & Johnson to acquire Micrus Endovascular for around $480 million

US health care giant Johnson & Johnson has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Micrus Endovascular, a global developer and manufacturer of minimally invasive devices to address hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke, in a cash for stock exchange.

Under the terms of the deal, Micrus stockholders will receive at closing $23.40 for each outstanding share they hold. The value of the transaction as of the anticipated closing date is estimated to be about $480 million, based upon Micrus' 20.5 million fully diluted shares outstanding. The boards of both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customer conditions and is expected to complete during the second half of this year. The acquisition is expected to be breakeven to slightly dilutive to J&J's 2010 earnings per share.

Micrus will join Codman & Shurtleff, the neuro device business of the DePuy family of companies within J&J. Codman and Micrus offer innovative and complementary technologies for treating cerebral aneurysms responsible for hemorrhagic stroke. The Codman neurovascular portfolio includes bare platinum coils, vascular reconstruction devices (VRDs) and access devices. Micrus, solely focused on the neurointerventional market, is a leader in enhanced bioactive coils and a pioneer in the development of new technologies to improve the treatment of ischemic stroke and aneurysms. The combined business of Codman and Micrus Endovascular will provide a strong suite of solutions for hemorrhagic stroke, with many promising products in development for ischemic stroke, says J&J.