Minneapolis, MN and San Jose, CA-- American Medical Systems, a provider of pelvic health solutions to urologists, will pay $715 million for Laserscope, the market leader for the surgical treatment of obstructive benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The Boards of Directors of both AMS and Laserscope have unanimously approved the transaction.
Under the terms of the agreement, AMS will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Laserscope at a price of $31/share in cash no later than June 14, 2006. The total acquisition price for Laserscope shares and options is approximately $715 million. CIT Healthcare LLC has underwritten the senior financing for up to $565 million.
The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2006 and will be subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Following the purchase of shares in the tender offer, AMS' merger subsidiary and Laserscope will merge and Laserscope will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of AMS. Laserscope's aesthetics business is not considered a strategic fit for AMS so AMS will consider alternatives for that business including divestiture. Accordingly, the financial results of this product line will be accounted for as a discontinued operation.
"American Medical Systems' history of innovation, strong reputation and experience in urology, and extensive worldwide distribution network make it the ideal partner of Laserscope," said Eric Reuter, president and CEO of Laserscope. "Through the new AMS, even greater numbers of men suffering from obstructive BPH around the world will benefit from the excellent clinical outcomes of the Laserscope GreenLight family of products. We believe the acquisition of Laserscope by AMS will further expand AMS' reputation as a leading urological products company."
While AMS currently offers to urologists its TherMatrx product for the treatment of non-obstructive BPH, the addition of GreenLight to the AMS product line will allow AMS to enter the obstructive BPH segment which requires tissue removal for patient relief.