St. Jude Medical Inc. recently acquired Endosense SA for USD 331 million to add to the former's electrophysiology portfolio.  Based in Switzerland, Endosense is a medical technology company whose main focus lies in the development of catheter ablation for cardiac arrhythmia treatment.

With an initial payment of USD 170 million, the terms of the transaction include an additional payment of up to USD 161 million in cash.  However, additional payment will be done only upon the attainment and timing of a regulatory breakthrough. 

Frank J. Callaghan, president of the cardiovascular and ablation technologies division of St. Jude said, "The acquisition of Endosense further strengthens our industry-leading portfolio of products to treat patients with cardiac arrhythmias, and provides an opportunity to accelerate our market share capture in the USD 900 million global cardiac ablation catheter market."

St. Jude also clarified that payments for the acquisition will not affect the company's share earnings since the cash funds used were funded from outside of the United States.