Boston Scientific Shares Jump On J&J Settlement

Shares of Boston Scientific Corp. jumped more than 9% Wednesday after the medical-device maker reached a $600 million settlement with health-care behemoth Johnson & Johnson over Boston's acquisition of Guidant Corp. in 2006. Prior to the acquisition, J&J had agreed to buy Guidant, a heart-device maker, but that was thwarted when Boston submitted a higher bid. J&J sued when it determined Guidant had violated their merger pact by allowing due diligence to be performed on a portion of its business, and had sought $7 billion in damages. Boston shares were up $1.39 to $16.23 in recent action.