Johnson & Johnson buys CLOSURE Medical in $370M deal

US health care giant Johnson & Johnson has entered a definitive agreement to aquire Nasdaq-listed CLOSURE Medical Corp, a global leader in biomaterial-based medical devices. CLOSURE is expected to operate as a stand-alone entity reporting through Ethicon, a J&J company, with which it has worked since 1996 on the development of topical adhesives.

Under the terms of the agreement, CLOSURE shareholders will receive $27.00 for each outstanding share in the firm. The value of the transaction as of the anticipated closing date is estimated to be around $37.00 million, based upon the firm's approximately 15.6 million fully-diluted shares outstanding, net of estimated cash on hand at time of completion. On closing, J&J is expected to incur an estimated one-time after-tax charge of some $68.0 million or $0.02 per share, reflecting the write-off of in-process R&D charges. This transaction does not affect Johnson & Johnson guidance (excluding IPR&D) as reviewed at the year-end analyst meeting held on January 25.