Lehigh Valley Medical-Device Company Gets New Owner

An Italian medical-device maker that in 2008 opened its U.S. headquarters in the Lehigh Valley is being sold to Medtronic, the world's largest medical-device maker based in Minneapolis.

Medtronic will pay up to $500 million for the Italian company Invatec, which makes devices used to unclog arteries.
Invatec has U.S. headquarters in Bethlehem Township, where it employs about 25 people in such functions as sales, marketing and shipping.

Invatec employs about 900 worldwide, mostly in Italy and Switzerland. The deal, announced last week, is expected to close in the coming months.

What the deal means for Invatec's local operations is unclear, said Jack Springer, president of Invatec's U.S. operations.

"We are a nice fit into their company, because there's no overlap," Springer said.

Invatec opened its local headquarters in August 2008 to market and distribute its products, which are made in Europe, and to manage clinical studies required for new products to be used in this country.

Prior to that, Invatec's products were sold in the United States through a medical device distributor that had competing products.