Philips buys Volcano’s IVUS, FFR assets for $1B

Royal Philips will pay $1 billion to acquire the catheter-based imaging company Volcano Corp. The deal is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2015.

Amsterdam-based Philips made a cash tender offer to acquire all shares of Volcano for an equity price placed at $1 billion. The merger agreement will transfer all of Volcano’s intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) assets to Philips, which provides interventional imaging equipment, tools and services to heart hospitals and cardiovascular facilities worldwide.

Volcano specializes in technologies that assist interventional cardiologists in the assessment of lesions in patients with coronary artery disease. The company also has ventured into peripheral vascular therapeutics.

By combining these complementary technologies, Philips expects to grow its share of the interventional market and expand into arrhythmias and structural heart diseases.

“Our combined sales forces will be able to capture immediate cross-selling opportunities, while our joint R&D teams will be able to develop new solutions to address significant unmet needs in the minimally invasive treatment of cardiovascular diseases," said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips, in a release.

Once the deal is closed, San Diego-based Volcano is expected to move its 1,800 employees into a new image-guided therapy business group within Philips. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including certain regulatory clearances in the U.S. and elsewhere.