Abbott considers offloading med device business to Terumo in $1.5B deal

Abbott Laboratories ($ABT) has been shedding noncore assets since snatching up St. Jude ($STJ) earlier this year. Now, the company is thinking about offloading its medical device business to Japan’s Terumo.

Abbott put some of its businesses on the auction table, and Tokyo-based Terumo made a bid for the company’s cardiovascular device segment and other medical device businesses, Nikkei Asian Review reports. A deal with Terumo could be valued at as much as ¥150 billion ($1.47 billion), according to the news outlet.

Nothing is set in stone, and Abbott can still consider competing offers. But a sale would benefit both Abbott and Terumo. Abbott is working on consolidating after its $25 billion purchase of St. Jude in April. Earlier this month, the company sold its optics unit to fellow med tech heavyweight Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) for $4.32 billion.

Buying Abbott’s medical device business could help Terumo expand its global footprint. The company has been trying to flesh out its offerings over the past few years through acquisitions. In 2011, Terumo snatched up CaridianBCT and its blood transfusion products for $2.62 billion.

In June, the company announced that it would buy brain aneurysm device maker Sequent Medical in a deal worth up to $380 million. The purchase gave Terumo access to Sequent’s minimally invasive device for intracranial aneurysms and allowed it to beef up in a growing neurovascular market, the company said at the time.