Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has poured cold water on a Financial Times report that it is mulling a bid for St Medical (NYSE:STJ).
"I can tell you that we are not pursuing an offer for St Jude," Abbott spokesman Scott Stouffer told news agency Reuters.
That did not stop market makers pushing the price of St Jude up to around US$72.50, up 4.6% in the day and placing a value on the firm of US$20.BNP.
According to the Financial Times, Abbott has been talking to banks for several weeks to prepare the ground for a stock plus cash bid.
In some respects, joining the two companies together would make a good fit, as the two already work together to sell a joint portfolio of cardiovascular products to hospitals.
Acquisitive Abbott is known to be on the look-out for more purchases. Last month chief executive Miles White admitted: "I’m not sitting here on a pile of cash thinking there’s nothing out there of interest that fits us. Quite the contrary, I think there’s quite a lot out there that fits us well.”
Abbott shares were outperforming the market late in the morning, up 3% at US$45.29.