Shockwave Medical Draws Interest From Boston Scientific

(Bloomberg) — Shockwave Medical Inc. is attracting takeover interest from Boston Scientific Corp. as health-care dealmaking starts to rebound, people with knowledge of the matter said.

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Boston Scientific has been exploring a potential deal for Shockwave to boost its portfolio of cardiovascular devices, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private.

Shares of Shockwave had gained 29% this year. The shares rose more than 10% to $286.46 Friday in New York trading, giving the company a market value of about $10.5 billion. Boston Scientific fell 2.9% to $51.11.

A deal could rank as one of Boston Scientific’s largest ever acquisitions, potentially trailing only its 2006 purchase of Guidant Corp. for more than $27 billion. Bloomberg News reported last year that Shockwave was working with advisers to study mergers or partnerships with other health-care companies after receiving takeover interest.

Founded by serial medical technology entrepreneur Daniel Hawkins, Shockwave says it’s seeking to change how calcified cardiovascular disease is treated. The Santa Clara, California-based company has a device that uses sound waves to break up calcium deposits in arteries and expand vessels, a method the company says is safer than some currently used procedures.

Boston Scientific, which has a market value of about $76 billion, makes a number of devices and instruments used in cardiac care.

Acquiring Shockwave would make “a lot of strategic sense given the company’s focus in interventional cardiology and peripheral vascular though we do acknowledge BSX would likely need to pay a sizable valuation to acquire the asset and this deal may or may not introduce some FTC considerations,” Piper Sandler analysts led by Adam C. Maeder wrote in a report Friday.

Deliberations are ongoing, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction, the people said. Representatives for Boston Scientific and Shockwave declined to comment.

(Updates with closing share prices in the third paragraph)