Baxter to acquire maker of soft-tissue repair products

Baxter International said it reached a definitive agreement to acquire Synovis Life Technologies, a St. Paul, Minn.-based device company that develops soft-tissue repair products used in surgical procedures.

The Synovis board of directors approved the $325 million deal, which will complement Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter's regenerative medicine and biosurgery portfolio, Baxter said in a news release.

“The medical device business that Synovis has built, and its technical capabilities to develop and manufacture surgical products, is highly complementary to Baxter's existing offering of biosurgery products,” said Ludwig Hantson, president of Baxter's BioScience business, in the news release. “The combined business will offer surgeons in the United States and around the world a more complete line of innovative tools used to treat patients.”

Synovis' products are used in obesity surgical procedures, hernia repair, vascular surgery, and patching the lining of the brain, vessels, and cardiac defects. The company, which reported annual sales of about $70 million in 2010, also makes orthopedic and wound management products.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012. It's the third acquisition for Baxter this year—the company announced plans to acquire Baxa Corp. in August and Prism Pharmaceuticals in April.