UPDATE: Aug. 7, 2019: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission cleared Boston Scientific's proposed buyout of U.K. medtech BTG, the company said in an SEC filing Wednesday.

First announced in November 2018, the deal faced a slowdown in early 2019 when U.S. regulators took issue with the two companies' dominant position in the embolization beads market. Boston Scientific announced in early July it plans to sell its drug-loadable microsphere and bland embolic bead products to Varian Medical Systems for $90 million.

The update Wednesday also said Spanish and Austrian regulators have recently granted necessary clearances.

A court hearing is expected to take place Aug. 15 and the deal is slated to take effect Aug. 19. BTG is petitioning the London Stock Exchange to suspend its shares effective Aug. 19 and cancel them Aug. 20.

Dive Brief:

• Boston Scientific has struck a $4.24 billion deal to acquire BTG, a U.K.-based company that develops devices for use in minimally-invasive surgery for cancer and vascular diseases, along with acute care pharmaceuticals.

• The planned takeover will expand Boston Scientific’s presence in the interventional oncology and pulmonary embolism markets.

• Shares in Boston Scientific fell 6% in premarket trading as investors assessed the implications of the integration job and debt increase now facing the company. BTG's shares increased 33% following the news.

Dive Insight:

In a busy year for Boston Scientific’s business development team, the medical device giant has struck its biggest deal yet. Boston Scientific signed eight takeover agreements worth more than $1.5 billion over the first eleven months of 2018. Now, the company looks set to land a ninth takeover that will dwarf the flurry of activity earlier in the year.

The board of Boston Scientific has sanctioned the £3.3 billion ($4.24 billion) acquisition of London-based BTG. The price represents a 37% premium over BTG’s last close prior to news of the deal, and a 51% premium over its 90-day volume-weighted average share price.

In return for the outlay, Boston Scientific will gain ownership of assets that strengthen its presence in two important areas, namely interventional oncology and vascular devices. BTG’s TheraSphere Y-90 radiotherapy microspheres and GALIL cryoablation system are cornerstones of the oncology unit. The big prize from acquiring the vascular unit is the FDA-cleared EKOS Endovascular System for destroying blood clots related to pulmonary emboli, deep vein thrombosis and peripheral arterial occlusions.

Analysts at Jefferies have tipped BTG’s interventional oncology and vascular businesses to deliver sustained double-digit growth. However, the strong current and forecast performance of those units has been undermined by problems elsewhere. With varicose vein treatment Varithena and emphysema device PneumRx both in trouble, BTG shares fell 30% over the first 10 months of 2018.

Boston Scientific has looked past the underperforming franchises and focused on BTG’s strengths.

"The acquisition of BTG and its rapidly growing peripheral interventional portfolio is an exciting extension of our category leadership strategy that will augment our capabilities in important areas of unmet need such as cancer and pulmonary embolism," Boston Scientific CEO Mike Mahoney said in a statement.

Boston Scientific plans to fund the deal using a mix of its existing cash and the proceeds of a planned debt financing. Last month, Jefferies analyst Raj Denhoy said “leverage” was the “one hitch” in the Boston Scientific story.

News of the takeover comes days after Boston Scientific revealed plans to cut its annual costs by $150 million over the next three years, which will also cost some people their jobs.