Johnson & Johnson said it has completed its acquisition of Synthes, a Swiss orthopedic medical device company, for $19.7 billion in cash and stock.
Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission said the New Brunswick, N.J.-based healthcare company agreed to sell its volar distal radius plating system, which treats serious wrist fractures, to resolve the agency's antitrust concerns.
The FTC said Johnson & Johnson and Synthes products make up more than 70% of the domestic market for wrist-fracture treatment systems.
Johnson & Johnson plans to divest DePuy Orthopaedics’ entire worldwide trauma business, including the DVR system, to Biomet, a Warsaw, Ind.-based devicemaker that had announced its offer in April to acquire DePuy Orthopaedics’ worldwide trauma business for $280 million in cash.
“The combination of these two respected leaders—Synthes and DePuy—will enable us to better serve clinicians and patients worldwide, bring new innovations to the marketplace in orthopaedics and neurologics, and strengthen our ability to compete in developing markets,” said Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky in a news release.
The acquisition, which was announced in April 2011, is the largest to date for Johnson & Johnson.
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