St. Jude Pact May Ease Ventritex Acquisition

St. Jude Medical Inc. has agreed to offer a cross-licensing agreement to Angeion Corp. to get Federal Trade Commission clearance to acquire Sunnyvale-based Ventritex Inc. The FTC’s staff closed its investigation of the merger in exchange for St. Jude’s commitment, Ventritex told the Securities and Exchange Commission. FTC commissioners must still the approve merger. St. Paul, Minn.-based St. Jude, which makes mechanical heart valves, and Angeion declined to comment. The nature of the agreement couldn’t immediately be determined. St. Jude had distributed Minneapolis-based Angeion’s defibrillators since 1994. But Angeion sought to terminate their distribution agreement after St. Jude announced plans in October to buy Ventritex, another defibrillator maker. St. Jude responded with a lawsuit to have the agreement upheld. St. Jude shares fell 12.5 cents to close at $33.875 on the NYSE; Ventritex dropped 19 cents to close at $16.375 on Nasdaq; Angeion rose 62.5 cents to close at $5, also on Nasdaq.