European Union antitrust regulators will decide by July 9 whether to clear U.S. orthopedic products maker Zimmer Holdings Inc's $13.4 billion bid for Biomet Inc, one of several recent takeovers in the pharmaceutical industry. The deal will push Zimmer up to the No. 2 spot behind Johnson & Johnson.Zimmer sought EU clearance on June 3, the European Commission's website showed on Wednesday. The EU competition watchdog can either clear the deal, demand concessions or open a lengthy investigation if there are regulatory concerns.Zimmer expects to close the deal in the first quarter of 2015.
Johnson & Johnson is a holding company. The Company is engaged in the research and development, manufacture and sale of a broad range of products in the health care field. Shares of JNJ traded higher by 0.03% or $0.03/share to $102.49. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $82.12 and as high as $102.60. On average, 7675670 shares of JNJ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1825194.
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