Boston Scientific buying Canadian medical device company for $1.75 billion

A Boston Scientific falg.Bloomberg News

Boston Scientific is making another big medical device acquisition. The Marlborough firm announced Wednesday that it agreed to buy Ontario-based Baylis Medical Co. for $1.75 billion to expand its cardiology business.

The deal is the largest acquisition Boston Scientific has announced in 2021 amid a buying spree.

Mike Mahoney, the chief executive of Boston Scientific, said Baylis Medical’s device makes delivering therapies to the left side of the heart safer and more effective. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year and generate $200 million in net sales for Boston Scientific by 2023.

Baylis Medical, which was founded in 1986 and employs about 800 people, said its radiology and neurosurgery medical devices affiliate, Baylis Medical Technologies, is not part of the deal.

Boston Scientific has already completed three acquisitions this year, paying $1.1 billion for Israeli surgical laser company Lumenis, up to $387 million for its remaining stake in California medical manufacturer Farapulse, and up to $1.2 billion for the rest of Minnesota-based Preventice Solutions.

And another acquisition is in the works. Two weeks ago, Boston Scientific said it agreed to buy California-based Devoro Medical, which it already owned a minority stake in, for $336 million.

The acquisitions signal a period of growth at Boston Scientific, which last year took a hit when the pandemic pushed hospitals to postpone elective procedures while their staffs were overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Net sales at the firm dipped nearly 8 percent to $9.9 billion for the year, and for a period, the company cut employee and executive salaries to compensate.

The company has since rebounded, fetching $3 billion in sales during the second quarter, up nearly 54 percent from the same period last year. At the end of June, the company reported having $2.7 billion in cash on hand.