Medtronic recently agreed to pay up to $458 million for California-based Twelve, Inc., a privately-held developer of transcatheter mitral valve replacement devices. The terms of the deal include $408 million at closing and $50 million on achievement of CE Marking. The deal is expected to close in October 2015.
Medtronic now joins fellow multi-billion dollar med-tech giants, Edwards Lifesciences and Abbott Laboratories, in the race to stake a claim in the transcatheter mitral valve device space. In July, Edwards paid $400 million for CardiAQ Valve Technologies, a transaction that just recently closed, and Abbott acquired Tendyne Holdings, Inc. for $250 million.
Medtronic presently offers two transcatheter heart valves: “CoreValve Evolut R” for aortic valve replacement and “Melody” for pulmonary valve replacement. Sean Salmon, SVP and President of Medtronic’s Coronary & Structural Heart division stated:
Upon close, this acquisition will strategically augment our existing capabilities in the transcatheter mitral space, which represents an important growth opportunity for Medtronic.
Medtronic’s Coronary & Structural Heart division accounted for nearly $3 billion of the company’s $17 billion FY2014 revenue. The planned acquisition of Twelve suggests that Medtronic seeks to aggressively increase its market-share.