A combination of new product launches, contract selling, Guidant missteps, and a favorable market dynamic have increased St. Jude's overall worldwide market share. |
Another company could have been in that situation and not have been able to take advantage of the situation. They were ready to have good luck. |
Arden Hills is what's providing the cash flow right now. |
Boston Scientific has always been impressive -- they've done so many acquisitions over the years. They have a SWAT team that is just at its peak -- they come in and say hey, we're going to do a deal, and boom. |
buy. |
Each would like to keep the other from having Guidant. |
He is an extraordinary manager and leader of St. Jude, and he is in the right job for him. You need to be independent, hard-driving and be your own person. You're small and playing the rules close to the edge. That's not the J&J way. |
I think it's brilliant. The worst-case outcome for them is that they delay Johnson and force them to pay several million dollars more for Guidant, which weakens them as a competitor. |
I think Jim Tobin is a great captain of the ship. |
I think they are a good match, |
I'm leaning toward J&J not increasing their bid and essentially taking a walk, but it's close. |
If there is a bidding war, the last bid may be the 'losing bid' because that will be the amount that is outlandishly excessive and the 'winner' will have to live with their too-highly priced acquisition. |
In my experience, these investigations can take years and generally don't have any immediate influence on the fundamentals of the companies. |
It's a pretty complex juggling act. It adds a level of risk we haven't seen before. |
Q4 is behind us, and what the Boston Scientific investment thesis is now is the future, and particularly the future with Guidant. |