Cardiac Science Buys 3.4% of Spacelabs Stock

Cardiac Science Inc., stepping up its effort to acquire Spacelabs Medical Inc., said Tuesday that it purchased 320,200 shares, or 3.4%, of Spacelabs stock and nominated six candidates to the company’s board.

A day earlier, Irvine-based Cardiac Science said it had offered $15 a share for Spacelabs, a Redmond, Wash., maker of patient-monitoring devices.

Spacelabs said it had no comment regarding the offer.

Cardiac, which makes heart defibrillators, said it prefers a “friendly, negotiated transaction,” but is nominating a slate of directors to keep “our alternatives open.”

“We are committed to this business combination, as it . . . will result in the combined company being very well-positioned in the patient-monitoring industry,” Cardiac’s President and Chief Executive Raymond W. Cohen said in a press release.

Cardiac acknowledged that Spacelabs rejected its initial offer earlier this month.

Cardiac’s stock dipped 47 cents to $6.22 a share, while Spacelabs’ shares moved up 38 cents to $13.63. Both stocks trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market.