October 10, 2014, (startribune.com)– Healthcare supply company Covidien will remain mostly intact as a separate division of Medtronic following the $43 billion deal to merge them under a new Irish parent company.
With the deal potentially one month away, Fridley-based Medtronic announced Friday morning how it plans to restructure its corporate divisions to accommodate the massive, Dublin-based Covidien’s business units. It also described how it would restructure its operations around four international bases.
Medtronic and Covidien are in the midst of one of largest pending corporate mergers in the country. The deal has sparked resistance from shareholders and Washington Democrats because the combined company would be based in Ireland for tax purposes — a type of deal known as a corporate inversion. Medtronic recently announced it would push ahead with the deal despite changes in U.S. tax rules designed to make inversions less attractive.
Medtronic officials have told U.S. antitrust regulators that the deal would not close before Nov. 15, though it might be delayed until the first quarter of 2015.
“In the coming months, the new executive team will work together to assist the integration planning efforts, listening and learning from both companies, to build our combined strengths and craft out future plans as one company,” said Medtronic Chairman and CEO Omar Ishark, who would retain those titles following the deal.
Bryan Hanson, who today is group president of Covidien, would become executive vice president and president of Medtronic’s new Covidien Group. Meanwhile, Mike Coyle would become executive vice president and president of the Cardiac and Vascular Group, Hooman Hakami would become executive vice president and president of the Diabetes Group, and Chris O’Connell would become executive vice president of the Restorative Therapies Group.
Covidien’s existing peripheral vascular business and its neurovascular unit would be integrated into the divisions headed by Coyle and O’Connell, respectively.
Medtronic’s C-suite would remain unchanged after the deal: Gary Ellis will continue as chief financial officer, Dr. Rick Kuntz will stay on as chief scientific, clinical and regulatory officer, and Brad Lerman would remain general counsel and corporate secretary.
Although Medtronic executive offices would remain in Fridley after the deal, the company announced that will manage international operations through four divisions: An Asia Pacific region office in Singapore, an Americas unit based in Fridley, a Europe-Middle East-Africa division, and an entire division devoted to greater China.