J&J to buy breast implant firm Mentor for $1.1 billion

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson said on Monday it would acquire breast implant maker Mentor Corp for $1.07 billion as the giant diversified healthcare company pushes into the market for aesthetic medical products.

At $31 per share, J&J's tender offer for Mentor is a 92 percent premium to Mentor's closing price on Friday, although the shares had traded above $40 at the start of 2008.

The acquisition of Mentor underscores the interest in the market for aesthetics products even at a time when the rocky global economy may limit consumers' ability to pursue such discretionary procedures.

"I think it's a good deal for (Mentor)," Stanford Group analyst Jan Wald said. "It's at a pretty good price for them. J&J buys for the long term, so they probably saw value in the company longer term."

The deal comes a week after J&J agreed to acquire Israel's Omrix Biopharmaceuticals for about $438 million to expand its line of products used to control bleeding during surgery.

J&J, which plans to run Mentor as a standalone business under its Ethicon division, said the acquisition would strengthen its presence in aesthetic and reconstructive medicine.

Santa Barbara, California-based Mentor sells silicone-filled breast implants, while its other products include equipment used in liposuction procedures.

Mentor, which has about 1,300 employees, posted $373 million in sales in its most recent fiscal year. J&J, which sells an array of prescription drugs, consumer products and medical devices, is expected to post nearly $65 billion in revenue this year.

"It fits well with the consumer segment and in the direction J&J often said it wants to go, which is to combine consumer products with prescription products," Stanford's Wald said.

The deal, which was approved by both companies' boards, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009. It is expected to hurt earnings per share by about 3 cents to 5 cents, J&J said.

J&J said the deal has a net value of $1.12 billion including debt.

Mentor shares jumped to $30.55 in premarket trading. J&J shares were flat at $58.58.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf and Susan Kelly in Chicago, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Derek Caney)

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