Asahi Kasei makes $2.2-bn bid for Zoll Medical

Japan's chemicals and materials science company Asahi Kasei Corp today launched a friendly $2.2-billion bid for US medical equipment firm Zoll Medical Corp.

Under the deal that has been approved by the board of both companies, Tokyo-based Asahi Kasei will pay $93 per share, a 23.8 per cent premium over the closing price of Zoll on 9 March 2012.

Following the completion of the tender offer, Asahi Kasei intends to implement a second-step merger pursuant to which all remaining shares of Zoll common stock not tendered in the offer will be converted into the right to receive the same cash price per share as in the offer.

Post closing, Zoll will be delisted from Nasdaq and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Asahi Kasei Group. It will be managed by the current Zoll management team and with all current business units and operations remaining intact.

Chelmsford, Massachusetts-based Zoll develops and markets software solutions and medical devices in the defibrillation and monitoring, circulation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) feedback, data management, fluid resuscitation, and therapeutic temperature management segment.

Its innovative product lines, which include LifeVest, the world's only wearable automatic defibrillator; temperature management technologies for managing the core body temperature of critically ill or surgical patients, and AutoPulse, a revolutionary non-invasive cardiac support pump, represent significant potential drivers of growth for the company.