Medtronic acquires Aircraft Medical for $110 million in cash
Medtronic announced on Nov. 18 it had acquired Aircraft Medical, a company that develops video laryngoscopes that anesthesiologists and critical care professionals use to intubate patients.
The deal was for $110 million in cash, but no other terms were disclosed. Aircraft Medical will be included in Medtronic’s patient monitoring and recovery division within its minimally invasive therapies group.
With Aircraft Medical’s devices, clinicians see a patient’s vocal cords and insert the breathing tube in the trachea. Medtronic said video laryngoscopy helps increase the number of successful intubations, improves laryngeal views and leads to more successful first-attempt intubations in patients with difficult airways compared with direct laryngoscopy.
Medtronic noted in a news release that the acquisition strengthened its position in respiratory compromise, which is the second-most frequently occurring preventable safety adverse event in the U.S. Respiratory compromise consists of respiratory insufficiency, failure and arrest.
For fiscal year 2016, Medtronic expects the acquisition to be earnings neutral. After that, the deal is expected to have a positive impact on Medtronic’s earnings.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.