3M Plans to Acquire Cardiovascular Devices of Irvine
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. said Monday that it has agreed to acquire Cardiovascular Devices Inc., an Irvine maker of blood gas monitoring products. The value of the proposed stock-swap transaction was not disclosed.
If approved by Cardiovascular Devices stockholders, the transaction is expected to be completed in 45 days. And 3M said it expects to retain all 140 of the acquired company’s employees and keep its Irvine operations intact. The company would operate as a subsidiary of the 3M Medical-Surgical Division.
Cardiovascular Devices is a privately held company founded in 1980 with venture capital to develop a device to continuously measure the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations and the pH balance in the blood of patients during open-heart surgery.
Ted Gourley, the firm’s founding president, chairman and chief executive, said Cardiovascular Devices has captured about two-thirds of the worldwide market for continuous blood gas monitoring devices.
He said development of its products cost $23.5 million, which was provided by an investment group led by Brentwood Associates in Brentwood, and Weiss, Peck and Greer in San Francisco.
The company’s owners, which include Gourley and other employees, decided to sell the firm to 3M primarily because the company needs funds to develop a miniaturized blood gas sensor that can be inserted in the wrists of patients in hospital critical care units, Gourley said.
The acquisition of Cardiovascular Devices, 3M said, will complement its existing health care businesses, which generate $1.5 billion in annual revenue.
