Stent firm in talks to sell 2 units
WASHINGTON -- Boston Scientific Corp. is considering selling two surgical tools businesses to cut costs as sales decline for its main products, drug-coated stents and implantable defibrillators.
The company, the world's second-largest maker of heart devices, is in talks with "several potential buyers" for the cardiac and vascular surgery units and expects any transactions to take "a number of months," according to a statement yesterday.
Boston Scientific last week agreed to pay $1.15 billion to undo the 2004 acquisition of Advanced Bionics and keep its pain management business, and resolved litigation with the smaller company's shareholders. Natick-based Boston Scientific has been hurt by falling sales of stents, which prop open diseased arteries, and defibrillators.
The vascular and cardiovascular businesses, which make tools for heart bypass surgery and patches to repair valves, generated revenue of $275 million in 2006, the company said.
Boston Scientific said it acquired the cardiac surgery business in 2006 as part of its purchase of Guidant Corp., and it established the vascular surgery unit with the purchase of Meadox Medicals in 1995. 