Medtronic Finalizes Covidien Acquisition for USD 50 Billion

Medtronic (Minneapolis, MN, USA and Dublin, Ireland) completed its acquisition of Covidien (Dublin, Ireland) in lockstep with the Irish High Court’s sanctioning. The companies, both major medical manufacturers of cardiovascular devices, now exist under the name Medtronic plc, with principal executive offices now headquartered in Ireland, which has a much lower corporate tax rate than the US, allowing Medtronic to lower its tax burden. Its operational headquarters remain in Minneapolis and its chairman and CEO, Omar Ishrak, will oversee the company from Minneapolis.

The acquisition allowed the companies to combine a variety of cardiovascular product lines and services, including implantable cardiac therapies such as pacemakers and defibrillators, valves, catheter-based ablation systems, stents, and vascular and peripheral technologies.

The deal is also an opportunity to expand products and services via Covidien’s reach in emerging markets. Covidien employed about 38,000 in more than 70 countries, with 41 manufacturing facilities in 17 countries; Medtronic’s workforce was about 46,000, with 8,000 in Minneapolis. Medtronic plc now totals about 85,000 employees working in 160 countries.

“Through this combination, Medtronic is expected to generate significant free cash flow, which it will be able to deploy with greater strategic flexibility, particularly in the US,” the companies said in a joint statement. Medtronic also plans to use USD 10 billion over a decade in the US to invest in early-stage companies and fund acquisitions.

Medtronic announced in June 2014 that it planned to buy Covidien for USD 43 billion and that it agreed to a cash-and-stock deal. The final transaction totaled almost USD 50 billion. Covidien and Medtronic shares have ceased trading, being replaced by Medtronic plc shares (MDT).

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